Transcripts For CSPAN2 South Dakota State Of State 20170203

Cspan. Org. Next, south dakota governor dennis dugard. His remarks are an hour. [applause] thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Thank you. Thank you very much. That was very kind of you. Thank you. It is good to have you back in pierre to the new members of or legislature, welcome. Im sure youll enjoy this experience immensely. Before i begin today, though, id like to note a historical milestone. Today is the beginning of Lieutenant Governor Matt Michaels session as president of the senate and prior to that he presided forever four sessions as speaker of the house. Those 11 sessions make Matt Michaels the longest serving presiding officer the history of the south dakota state legislature. Lets recognize and thank him for that service. [applause] thank you very much. Over the past six years, we have undertaken many significant initiatives together and have made progress in many years. Today im going to provide updates on many of our efforts in the areas of education, transportation, criminal justice, work force, and Tribal Affairs among others. I want to update you on our accomplishments and also in some cases talk about adjustments that we can make to continue to improve. First a brief update on the state revenue situation. I have some good news and some bad news. Ill start with the bad news. Since we met in december, revenue has not strengthened. Sales tax continues to run below even revised projections. Overall revenue is dont 5. 8 million. So we will need to continue to watch revenues over the next two months to ensure we adopt a structurally balanced budget in march. We all know that the farm economy is one reason for weakness in the says tax, and another reason is the continued growth in online sales. Many online retailers do not collect and remit sales tax, as you know. The state has taken self steps over the years to try to collect more of that tax, and after last session the department of revenue reached out to many online retailers to encourage them to remit tax. And that is the good news. Today im pleased to announce they state has reached an agreement with amazon to collect and remit state and local sales taxes in south. Amazon will begin volunteerly to collect sales tax february 1st february 1st and remit in late march. Amazon is a leading online merchant, growing every year by double digits. Their decision to collect sales tax doesnt solve the problem but is a big step in the right distinction. Eileen sullivan is here today representing amazon and for their decision as a good Corporate Citizen to union the many south dakota retailers who collect and remate the sales tax, i ask her to stand so that we can thank her. Eileen . [applause] thank you again. In past years ive talk about a better government initiative, a constant effort to make State Government more efficient, more open, and accessible, and we made good strides over the past six years, and ill be asking you to help us further improve this year. First we continue to work on red tape repeal efforts. Over the past six years we hey have proposed and you have passed repeal of over 4,000 sections of obsolete or unnecessary laws and rules accounting for nearly 470,000 words. We will be proposing more of these bills this year. Another important component of better government is to be more open, accountable, and accessible. Ive made this a pry port and we have made pri oater and we have made considerable progress. Launched an online part don application said picking south dakota the first statement with an pardon application process. This year i will support the attorney generals proposal to make booking photographs, known as mug shots, open to the public, as in most states. Last year i asked the Lieutenant Governor to lead an effort to improve our states internal controls. You passed legislation creating the board of internal controls and that body has been meeting monthly since may. Internal controls within State Government itself are already strong. In fact we just completed our comprehensive annual Financial Report for fiscal year 2016 with an unqualify cleaned a did from the department of legislative audit but we must do a better job of monitoring federal funds that pa through the state to nonstate entity. This is a complex area but the board is working hard to establish standards. One requirement is avoiding conflict of interest. Most are innocent. Two years ago you passed and eye signed legislation creatings new conflict of interest standards for state employees. That system is working well. We now have a system that makes state employees more aware of potential conflicts so they can be prevented or publicly disclosed and identified as not against Public Interest. Last year, i signed similar legislation for state board and Commission Members and for local school board members. After one Years Experience ill will support legislation this year to clarify and streamline the law so that boards can achieve our objective of braining transparency to the situations. Over the past six years we have taken many establishes to make State Government information more accessible. We put Economic Development grands online. We put restaurant inspections online. Information on oil, gas and water drilling is now online. Open. Sd. Gov is redesigned and is a central hub for information, including checkbackbook level detail. It was 250 years ago that the 20 years ago the legislature launched an excellent web site that allows for online tracking of legislation and live and archive editor streaming streamf all internet streaming. Rules. Sd. Gov allows sunshineses to track and comment on propose el rules. Two years ago we launched a portal to centralize information on state boards and commissions in one place. Membership information, agendas, meeting materials, minutes, Financial Reports and audits. This year i will ask you to support legislation to institutionalize the portal. Today i can require state agencies to utilize the site but i want the law to require it after im gone this site only work if bordeser required to potion their Information Online just as we required them to post their Public Notices at a location where a meeting is held. Were also making state board and Commission Meetings accessible with internet streaming. Sd. Net is a onestop web site to stream legislative proceedings and board and Commission Meetings as well as other public broadcasting coverage such as High School State tournaments. And while these efforts have paid off in 2011 shortly after i took office south dakota received a d plus for Online Access from the Public Interest research group. As of 2016. South dakota has improved that sore to an aminus. One reliable advocate for openness over the years has been News Reporter bob mercer. As a reporter bob has written about the need for openness. But when he has seen opportunities to improve he has shared them with my office. And ive always appreciated that. Several of these improvements were bobs suggestions, including the rules web site, the expansion of the boards boad commissions portal and even the case outside the Capital Building for posting notices. Bob has some Health Challenge is and bill not be their cover the legislative session but i hope we keep bob and this family in our thoughts. Since i last spoke to you since i spoke you last year at this time im very proud that south dakota has now obtained triplea ratings from am ethree major Credit Rating agencies. One rose instance the breadth of Financial Information made available and it has a positive football impact. The triplea ratings saves money win the tech schools, universities and hospitals, issuebands. We get a lower Interest Rate because of our bond rating. Two years ago the behest of the unit governor you passed legislation that allows School Districts to benefit. Districts can now leverage our Credit Rating. At least eight School Districts have realized savings. Red field assist 185,000, immediate county, 150,000. The Lakota School district was able to refinance a 2013 debt and save 3 million. Our triplea rating is the consequence of the many sound Financial Decisions that governors and legislators have made over the years. We balanced our budget for 128 years and recently placed an explicit requirement for a balanced but the constitution. We have made it the norm to have a structurally balanced budget which supports ongoing expenses with ongoing revenues only. We built and maintain a rainy day opportunity that is 10 of the general fund budget. We have been conservative in estimating revenues and expenses and when when he have onetime money to spend we used it to repay debt early, secure an existing asset and endow an ongoing as set for create a new asset and we can be very proud of the management of the south dakota retirement system. The plan is wellfunded and routinely rates as one of the strong nest the nation. That is no accident. Over the past few years the Retirement System Trustees have proposed and you have passed several important adjustments to the plan that have strengthened photo long term. The years the trustees are bring another bill that will protect the plan from swings in inflation or investment returns and hope youll support that also. Some management involves the stewardship of tangible assets, regular maintenance of state own owned facilities we need reeval was our need for facility wed have. When i first ran for governor i talked about the need scrutinize state owned lan and build examination to sell assetted thatyear underutilized. This hays been an ongoing profoes six years. We first addressed the Human Services center in yankton and we sold unneeded land and demolished many vacant buildings. We also negotiated a lease purchase with the Yankton County Historical Society for the historic need building. This is being beautifully restored. Next we looked the campus of the south Dakota Developmental Center in redfield. Like the yankton facility this large campus was built to house over a thousand south dakotans with developmental or Mental Health issues, onfor their entire lives. Today the campus serves only about 120 persons. This year i will be asking you authorize the transfer of several vacant building and adjoining lands from the cam nows the city of redfield which expressed interest in refurbishing the buildings. We are also evaluating evaluatie former state training campus. The property has been leased over a decade to a private company that operates the aurora plains academy. I well be asking you to authorize a sale as well. Im also asking you to approve the potential sale of the star academy property. Outside of custer, which closed last march there are too few juvenile thursday correction systems to justify this large campus and even if a future increase of juveniles in corrections even a future increase of juveniles in corrections would not justify reopening star academy. We would use smaller, more efficient facilities. My hopes that the star academy property at a black hills locationening be sold and to create jobs. The construction of a new state Veterans Home has led to us evaluate the adjoining lands and buildings and ill be asking you to approve legislation that allows to us explore repurposing portions of that campus. Likewise, building formerly used by western dakota tech in rapid city will be reverting to state ownership and i hope to continue to discuss with the board of regions the former school for the deaf buildings and property on east tenth street in sioux falls. We owe it to the taxpayers to keep the states footprint to a minimum to avoid spending tax dollars on maintenance of unneeded facilities and return the properties to the tax roles tax rolls when possible. The we also have transportation infrastructure and over the past six years have made great progress with refurbished two significant stretches of stateowned rail line. In 2014 you appropriated 7. 2 million in general funds to upgrade the stateopened line. We also provide evidence grant provides grants and a federal tiger grant. Because of this upgrade we constructed a 50 million grain handling facility. In addition we upgraded the britain line, aided bay loan from the state rail fund. This line runs from aberdeen into north dakota and connects shippers to the Canadian Pacific rail line and burl ton Northern Rail line. As a result of this upgrade, the wheat elevator and united green built a line and theyre shipping grain today. Beth 0 jump grade created more shipping and sells options, created jobs in rural areas and added significant grain handling facilities to the property tax rolls and also making Major Investments in highways. One example is highway 100 in sioux falls, major phase of the project will connect the urban corridor to i90. That should be completed by 2019. We have also provided aid to local government infrastructure, to years ago we created the bridge Improvement Grant Fund which is now granting millions each year to reduce the backlog of necessary repairs to local bridges. As still another piece of state infrastructure i spoke about the need to replace the state Animal Disease Research and diagnostic lab tour at sdsu. Even in a lean budget year im hopeful we can secure our Animal Health laboratory which protects our citizens and livestock industry. Beyond our tangible infrastructure, a critical duty of our state is to provide aa systems of k12 education. We need to recruit and retape good teach evers and we compete with neighboring states to do that. Last year we pailsed major legislation to increase teach ever pay and rewrite the School Funding formulaer and already seeing success. On teacher pay, when the Blue Ribbon Task force met our average teacher salary was just over 40,000. The new formula was designed and funded to afford an average of 48,500. We knew we wouldnt reach that average in one year because schools need time to become more efficient and repurpose their own funds into salaries. Still, according to the preliminary School Reports our average salary this fall is 46,936. Just short of 47,000. The states average salary increased by 11. 9 . Our smaller, rural districts are especially challenged to attract teachers so i was particularly pleats that preliminary data shows sizable salary increases in many small districts. In jones county the average teacher salary increased by 22 . In ethan increase bid 20 . In pollock, salaries up 25 . In faith, up 18 . Florence, up 20 . Burk, up 19 . Ulrich up 21 . And the highest increase in south dakota, as a percentage, was in wabbay whose average salary is up 26. 3 . Larger School Districts enjoyed sizable increases but had higher sal toys begin with and their percentage increases are lower. Ive already heard from many superintendents these changes are having an impact. Fewer teachers are departing. Fewer vacancies are left unfilled. Positioners are getting more applications and nor teachers are staying in south dakota rather than leaving the state. I know some have expressed concern about the new formulas impact on Small Schools. Because the new formula calculated state aide based on actual number of enrolled students. In other words, it no longer allows a school with declining enrollment to receive funding based on the higher enrollments of past years. Even with that change, however, the new formula was actually more favorable to Small Schools than larger ones. Statewide, schools received an average increase of 526 per student. Large schools over 600 received only 507 more per student. Some schools received 579 and cools of under hundred students received 653mer more per student. Those numbers are after the change to actual fall enrollment. The state aid formula is not the only way the state directly supports k12 education. Our successful dual Credit Program for High School Student its now it in its third year. This dual Credit Program is a winwinwin. Students win because these are the cheapest College Credits they will ever buy and get a head start on college 0, tech school. High schools win because they can expand their course offerings as no cost to school district. Universities and Technical Institutes win because they attract students are who are better prepared when they come to cam pulse. In the past school year, 2,139 High School Students took at least one dual credit course from a university, and another 899 took a Technical Institute course. The passage rate excellent. 49 for University Courses and 88 for tick income deck do technical up constitute courses. La years families saved a total of 4. 4 million compared to tuition raid they would have otherwise paid. As you can tell im very enthusiastic about the excels of the dual Credit Program. Unfortunately the state offers another program to high schools that has not been so successful and id like to touch on that. One persistent problem in south dakota is the number of High School Graduates who go on to college but need remedial courses. Last year, 30 of firstyear fulltime freshman at state universities needed to take at least one remedial course in math or english. Unlike dual credit, remedial courses are a loselose. Students lose because remedial courses are expensive and they dont count for credit. So they set a student back in their college career. Universities also lose because students who need remediation are less likely to stay in school and graduate on time. So to address this problem, four years ago i proposed and the legislature funded the accuplacer staysment. This is a free service to high schools. A High School Junior with a poor acd score takes the test in math and english. The test identified any area in which the Student Needs to remediation. It might in the be up math. It might just be a specific concept. The student is then offered reef immediatal coursework on just that concept. While the student is still in high school. If the student is able to pass the test after taking the coursework, the state universities will not require the student to take a remedial course. Its a great deal for these stunt students. Saves them to the cost of a Remedial Court and avoids delay and the state place for state play pays for it. But the high schools have been extremely slow to adopt the free program. Last year only 134 tests were fable 100 final tests were taken. Most students didnt take the test . This past fall, at our State University 599 remedial courses were required for new freshmen from south dakota high schools. Thats 599 remedial courses at about a thousand dollars each, totally over half a Million Dollars in expense. Money our students paid when the state has a free program not being used. We have 150 School Districts in south dakota. 108 of them didnt offer this to a single student. Now in august i spoke the School Administrator convention and asked them to take advantage of the program i hope we see much greater uses is in school year. If heard suggested if a high School Graduate needed remindation in college it should be the high school, not the student who pays the remediation bill. Im not proposing that today but hope high schoolsll take advantage of the free programs we offer. The state is strengthening career and teched programs. As you know, this scholarship with launched with 25 million from Denny Sanford and another 25 million in state future funds. Approximately 300 students each year receive fullride scholarships to attend a Technical Institute in a high need program, promising to work in that field in south dakota after they graduate. Nationally, over the past two years, enrollment in twoyear institutions is down nearly 17 . In south dakota, weve bucked that trend, our statewide enrollment is down only 1 . In build dakota programs, though, enrollment is up nearly 10 . Im excited about the impact these build dakota scholarships will have on our workforce when the first recipients receive their twoyear degrees in may. Voters showed their support for our Technical Institutes in the general election by passing amendment r. This amendment solved a longstanding constitutional problem by giving the Legislature Authority to provide for the oversight of the Technical Institutes, and i will support legislation this year that implements amendment r. Of course, we are also very proud of our six state universities who do so much to prepare our young people to enter the workforce. I am particularly pleased that the regents has taken a leadership role in adopting a goal that 65 percent of south dakota High School Graduates go on to graduate from a university or technical school. Most jobs of the future will require a Post High School credential, and we need to encourage students to obtain one. We especially need health care workers, particularly in rural areas, and we continue to pursue programs to address that need. The Recruitment Assistance Program helps communities recruit primary care doctors, dentists, physician assistants, and Nurse Practitioners. Fiftyeight percent of physicians and dentists, and 88 percent of physician assistants and Nurse Practitioners remain at their smalltown site even after completing their contract commitment. Likewise, each year we place in Rural Communities 60 other health professionals, including dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, and physical therapists. We also launched the frontier and Rural Medicine Program to give thirdyear medical students nine months of Clinical Training in Rural Communities. The first such students graduated from med school last may, and five of them moved into a Family Practice residency program. Id like to take a little time now to talk about criminal justice. In 2012, we began to confront south dakotas incarceration rate, which was much higher than our neighboring states. I joined with the chief justice, legislative leaders, and Key Stakeholders to propose the Public Safety improvement act, which you passed overwhelmingly in 2013. The goals of this legislation are to improve Public Safety, hold offenders more accountable, and direct state dollars to the most dangerous offenders. This act differentiated our drug laws so that major offenses would be treated more harshly than minor offenses. It created and expanded alternative sentencing options, such as drug and dui courts, and hope probation. And it made the largest investment in the history of our state in Behavioral Health services. We knew these were major changes, and thats why the act also created an Oversight Council to monitor progress, identify problems, and recommend changes. Reforms need time to work, but we shouldnt be afraid to adjust as we learn more and as circumstances change. Four years later, we are seeing many positive developments from the Public Safety improvement act. Among the successes is probation. Under the old system, we were supervising for multiple years many probationers who never reoffended. We did this in spite of data which shows that if a probationer is going to reoffend, it is very likely to be in the first year of probation. For that reason, we now allow felony probationers to reduce their probation term by 30 days, each time they complete 30 days of perfect behavior. This reform allows our probation officers to focus their attention on supervising those probationers who need it, those who are not compliant. The act also created a presumption of probation for many lowlevel, nonviolent crimes. This doesnt tie the hands of a judge who wants to sentence an offender to prison. A judge can override the presumption, nor does this compromise Public Safety. Last year less than one percent of those on presumptive probation were sent to prison for committing a violent crime. I am also very pleased with the success of the Substance Abuse treatment programs created under the act. 540 individuals have completed Substance Abuse treatment, and our rate of successful completion is 11 higher than the national average. Because of these reforms, more offenders are receiving the help they need through communitybased treatment. The act also initiated a very Successful Partnership with the Sisseton Wahpeton oyate. We placed a statefunded parole agent at sisseton, which allows tribal members to return home for parole and engages local Service Providers and tribal Law Enforcement in providing support for the offenders to change, and the results are compelling. In the first two years of this program, the percentage of tribal parolees being returned to prison for a violation has fallen from 57 to 28 , cut in half. Again, these efforts help focus our attention on violent offenders who pose a threat to public. Nonviolent offenders receive treatment and remain in their communities where they can work to support themselves and their families. These are important accomplishments, but there is still work to be done. The total prison population today is lower than it would have been without any reforms, but it is higher than we predicted it would be when we passed the Public Safety improvement act. Why is that . Well we believe its due to the increase in methamphetamine trafficking, which in south dakota and our neighboring states have experienced over the past eight years. Like our neighbors, south dakota is seeing a big increase in methrelated arrests and convictions. For the most part, meth is no longer being manufactured in homegrown laboratories. It is being produced on an industrial scale and trafficked into south dakota from outside our state. This meth epidemic needs to be addressed, and we need to make adjustments to the Public Safety improvement act because of it. Last year, i invited a group of judges and court officials, Law Enforcement officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, corrections officials, and legislators to look into the meth problem and make recommendations. That group issued recommendations toward three important goals first, we need to stop meth from coming into south dakota. Second, we need to educate people, especially young people, to prevent use of meth. Third, we need to help those addicted to stop using meth. It is in everyones interest to help them beat this addiction. Based on that report, i am joining with the attorney general to propose a joint Drug Interdiction Task force, comprised of four new Highway Patrol officers, joined by designated agents of the division of criminal investigation. We will also be asking you to update the states outdated wiretapping statute to include cellular phones. There is a very close correlation between the increase in Drug Trafficking and the increase in meth arrests and convictions in south dakota. We need to stop meth from coming into south dakota. The attorney general and the department of social services are also both focused on educating young people about meth, and a legislative interim Committee Also considered this issue last year. Starting this year, the managers of state antimeth programs will meet regularly to coordinate these efforts and maximize their impact. We need to convince our citizens, again especially our youth, to stay away from meth. Finally, im proposing changes to the Public Safety improvement act to encourage treatment and more directly confront the meth problem. For those who are on probation or parole, i am proposing measures to reinforce Good Behavior and punish bad behavior. We will establish a short mandatory sanction of required confinement for anyone on probation or parole who fails a drug test. This will guarantee swift and certain sanctions for offenders who choose to use drugs. Conversely, we will allow supervision to be terminated early for parolees and probationers who stay clean, complete treatment, and dont violate the terms of their supervision for at least one year. To help those who are already addicted to meth, i am proposing we incentivize effective completion of treatment. Offenders who complete all courtordered treatment within one year will be given one opportunity to reduce a drug possession or ingestion charge from a felony to a class 1 misdemeanor. This option would only be available once for each offender. I am also recommending grants to expand hope 24 7 probation to all counties. Hope 24 7 is similar to the successful 24 7 program for alcohol offenders. Hope 24 7 has been implemented in ten counties and provides intensive probation and treatment for serious drug offenders, who are required to take random drug tests to ensure that they stay clean. These steps i believe will strengthen the states response to the meth epidemic, while helping meth users beat their addiction. Meth is an extremely addictive drug that ruins homes and destroys lives. Trying meth just once can lead to death, and it changes brain functions. Meth users experience paranoia, delusions, severe tooth decay, and skin sores. The reforms i described have the potential to help those users and end the vicious cycle of drug abuse within families. Two years ago, we recognized that south dakota was locking up juveniles at the 2nd highest rate in the nation. Most were nonviolent. You joined me in passing reforms to the juvenile Justice System. The statutory purpose of our juvenile Justice System is rehabilitation, and locking up youth has been shown to make them more likely to commit crimes as adults. We need to avoid locking up young people unless they are a danger to others. The reforms invested 6. 1 million in expanded communitybased treatment. Functional Family Therapy focuses on the family, as well as the young person, to address underlying family issues that often cause delinquency. More than 50 trained treatment clinicians travel to the home and provide treatment in rural areas, not just in larger towns. Last year, nearly 700 young people were served through this treatment, including 250 who were referred from outside of the criminal Justice System. Fewer Young Offenders who needed to be housed in an institution led to the closure last year of star academy, as i mentioned earlier. Instead, we are making greater use of our communitybased facilities and providers and focusing more on rehabilitation. One aspect of the reforms that has been troublesome is the issue of truancy. We all know that keeping young people in school is vital to their longterm success. The reform legislation changed the truancy statute to allow schools to intervene with a citation earlier in the process. But some schools and counties felt that the new law made it difficult for them to deal with these issues. The juvenile justice Oversight Council sought input from schools and will be proposing legislation this year to give states attorneys greater flexibility in handling truancy cases. I support that change, and as i said a moment ago, we need to adjust as we learn more. This past year, chief Justice Gilbertson convened a task force to address issues in the criminal Justice System relating to Mental Health. Court orders for competency evaluations had tripled in recent years, contributing to the backlog of evaluations and causing higher costs. In some cases, mentally ill individuals had to wait in jail several months for their competency evaluations to be completed. Thats not fair to the individual, and it creates an unnecessary jail expense for the county. Funded by a grant from the Helmsley Charitable trust, the task force released its report in november. Among its findings, it recognized that our system lacks procedures to identify Mental Illness quickly after an arrest, and in many cases, jails are not equipped to deal with Mental Health needs. In some cases, diversion options that are already authorized by statute are not available in all areas of the state. I will be supporting the task forces recommendations, which takes a multifaceted approach to these problems. The legislation will provide Law Enforcement with tools to better identify and respond to Mental Health crises and prevent unnecessary jail admissions and to assist communities in building capacity to offer crisis intervention services. The bill will also expand the pool of providers who can provide competency evaluations and will shift funding from the Human Services center directly to counties to perform these evaluations. Much like our adult and juvenile reform patterns, an Oversight Council will monitor implementation and recommend changes to future legislatures. I thank the chief justice and Task Force Members for studying this difficult issue and for offering common sense proposals to improve our system. I also thank the Helmsley Charitable trust for its financial support. Last year, chairman Harold Frazier of the Cheyenne River sioux tribe gave the firstever state of the tribes address in this chamber. It gave this body and south dakotans a chance to hear about the challenges facing Indian Country from the perspective of an elected tribal leader. I look forward to thursdays 2017 state of the tribes address from chairman robert flying hawk of the yankton sioux tribe, and i hope this continues as an annual tradition. Relations between the tribes and the state made continued progress in 2016, thanks in large part to the efforts of tribal relations secretary steve emery and his staff. I mentioned a few moments ago the successful parole agreement we have undertaken with the Sisseton Wahpeton oyate. Let me give you a few more examples. Last year, the state reached new tax collection agreements with the crow creek sioux, oglala sioux, and sissetonwahpeton tribes, and we are in discussions with the lower brule sioux. These agreements generate tax revenue for the tribes and promote uniformity and fairness in taxation. If discussions with the lower brule are successful, we will have agreements with all nine tribes, for the first time in south dakota history. We also extended or signed Tribal Gaming compacts last year with the crow creek sioux, Flandreau Santee sioux, rosebud sioux, and yankton sioux tribes. In some renegotiated compacts, tribes have committed Financial Assistance to local governments. This, too, is something new, a welcome addition for several counties. Game, fish, and parks has partnered with tribal governments to improve management and conservation of shared natural resources. Game, fish, and parks has hosted training sessions for tribal conservation staff, aided with establishing deer and elk food plots, and provided equipment and staff for outdoor events. This year, gfp signed memorandums of understanding to formalize cooperation with the rosebud sioux and the lower brule sioux tribes. In the education realm, the department of education is working with the commission for Oceti Sakowin accreditation to allow the commission to accredit nonpublic tribal schools. The commission is nine tribe collaboration focused on ensuring cultural relevance in tribal schools. On september 17, we celebrated the dedication of a new south dakota landmark, dignity. Located near chamberlain at the rest area on interstate 90, dignity is a 45foot tall stainless steel sculpture of a native American Woman receiving a star quilt. It was created by south dakota artist laureate dale lamphere. Norm and Eunabel Mckie of rapid city donated the sculpture as a gift to honor the heritage of our native people. National headlines often emphasize our divisions. But seeing dignity and recounting the progress made in tribalstate relations this year reminds us that, in south dakota, we have more in common than we sometimes realize. The important thing, even where we may differ, is to treat each other with dignity. This week, i will sign an executive order for your consideration to reorganize Long Term Care Services Within State Government, by creating a division of Long Term Services and supports within the department of Human Services. The purpose of the reorganization is to create a more integrated approach to the delivery of Long Term Care in south dakota and to ensure that people get the services they need in their communities. Our state will experience demographic changes in the coming years, which will require more Long Term Services and supports. In 2035, its estimated the number of elders will increase in south dakota by 84 , compared to 2010. Hopefully, i will still be around, and among them. [laughter] the number of elders with disabilities is expected to be 71 higher. Today, the department of Human Services assists those with Developmental Disabilities who require Long Term Care, and the department of social services provides that same assistance to those who are aging. We have two different departments providing a very similar service. Combining these services in one department will ensure that people can access Long Term Care, regardless of why they need it. The reorganized agency will also redouble efforts to develop Community Based services in our state to provide care, in homes, or other environments less restrictive, and less expensive than nursing home placements. Last month in the budget address, i spoke about initiated measure 22. Since then, that law has been enjoined due to numerous constitutional problems. Given that, i will support efforts this session to repeal initiated measure 22 and replace it with provisions that are wellcrafted, constitutional, and responsive to the voters. The voters expect our Campaign Finance system to be transparent and honest, and they expect lobbyists to use only their arguments to win our votes. The proliferation of complex measures crowding our ballots through the efforts of people who dont live in south dakota is a concern to many. We need to find a way to stop outofstate organizations from experimenting with south dakotas constitution and laws. These groups have no ties to our state and often dont even disclose the source of their funds. They are using our states low signature requirement and cheap media markets to attempt to pass constitutional amendments and initiated measures that advance their National Agendas but dont address problems seen in south dakota. Its ironic. South dakota was the first state in the nation to create the initiative and referendum. In 1898, voters adopted these features of our constitution because of a fear that big money, outofstate special interests would take over the state legislature. Now, 120 years later, we find big outofstate money is taking over our ballot. They use the initiative process, the very process we created to protect ourselves from them. This session, we need to Work Together to find a way to protect our state from interference by outofstate groups, while preserving our citizens access to direct democracy, so issues that do concern our grassroots can be raised, but not by people who dont even live here. Speaking of another kind of grassroots, i am introducing a bill this year to provide property tax incentives for riparian buffer strips on agricultural property. These buffer strips are areas near streams or lakes that have perennial plantings to protect the water from adjoining land uses. They improve Water Quality by filtering sediment and surface contaminants from runoff. Last year, you overwhelmingly passed a similar bill that i vetoed because of constitutional concerns, and i believe the new bill overcomes these concerns, and the legislation i am proposing has received positive support from ag groups, local governments, conservationists, sportsmen, and the Ag Land Assessment Task force. I hope you will support it as well. Another important way that our state preserves our outdoors is through our excellent state park system. In 2016, more people camped in south dakotas state parks than ever before. Our parks hosted over 329,000 nights of camping, up 4 from 2015, when the 75th Sturgis Rally and the 50th buffalo roundup were held. Camping numbers have been increasing for our state parks every year for more than a decade. Progress continues at good earth state park, which you approved in 2013 as south dakotas thirteenth state park. Construction of the new Visitor Center is progressing, and the surrounding sidewalks are nearing completion. The new roadway into the park and parking area are complete. The Visitor Center film and interpretive displays, which will tell the story of the sites native inhabitants, are also underway. Outside native grasses have been sown, trees planted, and hiking trails developed. A grand opening of the Visitor Center is scheduled for may. We also continue to pursue efforts to create a state park in Spearfish Canyon. I spoke to you about this last year. Our congressional delegation has introduced legislation that authorizes the exchange of 1,992 acres of Black Hills National Forest land for 1,954 acres of state land, currently held by school and public lands, and 34 acres within Spearfish Canyon. The exchange is a good deal for south dakota. It gives the state control of a beautiful area while allowing the federal government to round out some of its grasslands holdings. It also will increase annual earnings from the school and Public Lands Fund to benefit our k12 schools. I know there is some concern in the spearfish area about the longterm plans for this site. Game, fish, and parks has been meeting with local groups to discuss next steps and will be Holding Public information meetings to gather feedback and continue the discussion. We want public input before any final decisions are made about management of the lands, including potential fee areas or infrastructure improvements. Just down the road from Spearfish Canyon is another significant state investment, the Sanford Underground Research facility at the former homestake gold mine. Progress continues at the lab on the deep underground neutrino experiment, or dune. This experiment will fire a beam of neutrinos, tiny subatomic particles, from fermilab, just outside chicago, through the earth to huge underground detectors at the sanford lab. Thirty countries and 161 institutions are now involved with dune. Rehabilitation of the ross shaft, which is necessary to move equipment down into the lab, is 85 complete and on track to be finished in september. Last year, the project received federal approval for early construction. In 2017, the lab will begin building a Conveyor System to remove rock as massive detector chambers are created underground, beginning in 2019. Although funding for this project is always contingent on the federal budget, our States Investment in the facility, as well as the continued support of our congressional delegation, have put us in an unprecedented position to succeed. Thats easy for you to say. [laughter] before i close today, i want to give tribute to something of which we can all be proud, the role the National Guard plays in defending our nation and responding to emergencies here at home. Sometimes they are recognized at the national level, and we dont fully appreciate it here back at home. Since 9 11, the south dakotan National Guard has deployed more than 7,800 soldiers and airmen. In 2016, more than 370 soldiers from five south dakota units supported overseas contingency operations. The 155th engineer company, 196th maneuver enhancement brigade, 153rd engineer battalion, 114th fighter wing, and detachment 48 all served abroad last year in afghanistan, kuwait, and poland. The soldiers and airmen of the south dakota National Guard have been recognized time and time again for their excellence. Our National Guard ranks number one in the nation for attrition loss rate, number two in security compliance, number three for timeliness in soldier evaluations, and number five for personnel readiness and soldier management. The south dakota army National Guard was presented with a firstplace gold finish in the 2016 Army Communities of excellence awards, and for the third consecutive year, the 153rd engineer battalion was awarded the top overall battalionsized unit in the nation and winner of the reckord trophy. In 2016, the 114th fighter wing, likewise, for the third year in a row, was designated a distinguished flying unit as one of the five best flying units in the nation. We have good reason to be proud of our soldiers and airmen. Please join me in a round of applause to thank them for their efforts. [applause] next week, donald trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. Many of us were bracing ourselves for four more years of the status quo in washington dc, and i look forward to an administration that respects limited government, is committed to reining in the federal bureaucracy, and understands the role of the states in a federal system. Both the Trump Administration and leaders in congress have been reaching out to the states asking for ways to roll back regulation and return flexibility to the states. In my responses, my priority is medicaid reform. Last year, i explained how funding for medicaid works for native americans who are also eligible for services from the Indian Health service. When a person who is on medicaid and eligible for Indian Health Services Gets their health care from Indian Health services, the federal government covers 100 percent of the cost. But when that same person who is medicaid eligible and Indian Health Services Eligible cant get care from Indian Health services, maybe they dont live close to an Indian Health Services Facility or perhaps Indian Health services cant provide the type of Specialty Care the person needs, in that case the federal government covers only about half of the bill, not 100 . State taxpayers cover the other half. This cost the state budget almost 93 million last year. The federal government needs to live up to its obligation to provide health care for native americans and pay for it no matter where services are provided. We saw a federal policy change last year that moved in that direction, but it didnt go far enough. It requires nonihs and other Healthcare Providers to jump through several hoops, and without Medicaid Expansion there is no way to get them to do that. The good news is that the Trump Administration and the Republican Congress are both interested in reforming medicaid to correct longstanding issues with the program. I have met with our congressional delegation to discuss this, and i will be in washington to discuss medicaid reform with the Senate Committee next week again. There is also a strong possibility that medicaid Reform Efforts could change medicaid to a per capita or block grant allocation, and i will advocate for an equitable federal allocation to the state and for the ihs funding issue to be resolved. I will also ask for more flexibility in the medicaid program. In an event was a hard day for my parents who took jobs to make ends meet the ranchers are repeatedly faced with the difficulty but we have survived and prospered for more than 100 years despite the risk and despite bad circumstances. We have reason for continued hope. Ranch families are resilient and when times are tough they get tougher. They put food on the table and we saw that last summer with the same persistence after the fire after 285 head of cattle and fence line we saw a neighbor helping neighbor. When disaster hit the Community Rallied around those affected to make sure they had feed for their livestock. There was dancing parties to start that daunting task to replace the miles of damage fenced people donated fencing material did pay 100 teefive thousand dollars was raised to help the families of back did. Brother fled or blizzard they whistle together win disaster strikes with over 100 Miles Per Hour is Straight Line when destroyed six homes and damaged a number of or at others. Seventy people were displaced in the county emergency manager called to say they may need state crews to assist with response. What followed was not surprising of those 70 people without a place to say only to use the red cross shelter then the emergency manager call this back because more than 500 volunteers appeared to assist the community in cleanup efforts. [applause] if when many lost power they came together again. They volunteer their own generator to power the homes of others to check on his neighbors the entire week and another man who of an elderly woman using a wood burning stove wood checkin on her. Align crew was snowden by a 15th would drift in front of his store he climbed out his bedroom window to get to work to restore power. This shows why south dakota is such a great place to live. When disaster strikes well wait for the government we get to work and help ourselves we have so much to be proud of low taxes clean air beautiful scenery they set us apart and more people discover our high quality of life. Last week report found itself dakota with the highest rate of inbound moves in the country and we have much to be proud of as much as i am proud of my most proud of the south dakota and you give me great confidence in our future in i very lucky to be governor of this place and they do believe the best are yet ahead. Thank you so much. [applause] [applause] of. To read deserves full negative disease this harvard not unknown few do not get cancer is something the body does if. Resigned. Resigned. You are a disgrace. When i said no. No. All i tried to do was find Common Ground be my guest. Because i live a lot in the middle east you learn that things could always get worse. Make the list of things that you think will make you happy and if they all right you would be temporarily have me. Happy. If you can achieve great health then you can remember and think about all those decisions you need to make everyday back. Back oreida spend midafternoon. Happy friday