Author Archives: Colton Hall

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Two years ago, you trusted me with your vote to serve as your United States Senator. Having seen the damaging effects of our overreaching, broken federal government as a business owner, governor, father and grandfather, I was eager to get to work to fix Washington.

While partisan gridlock in Washington still exists, we were able to make progress in several specific areas. We were able to enact the first major changes to our education laws since ‘No Child Left Behind,’ returning decision-making to the local level where it belongs. We also passed a long-term highway bill for the first time in two decades, allowing us to make long-overdue improvements to our roads and bridges.

While we still have work to do on tax reform, we were able to come together to make permanent sales tax deductions as well as deductions for charitable giving and certain educators. We also made section 179 permanent at the $500,000 level, which particularly benefits farmers and ranchers and could increase U.S. economic output by nearly $19 billion over 10 years. This type of tax relief allows South Dakota families and businesses to plan more efficiently and spend more of their money how they see fit.

While the accomplishments of the 114th Congress are a start, I am also aware of the challenges we continue to face. Despite getting 240 bipartisan bills signed into law, we still have a broken budget system, an over-sized bureaucracy, too much red tape and a tax code that is more than 74,000 pages in length.

The regulatory regime alone is costing Americans nearly $1.9 trillion annually, far more than is paid in individual income taxes. These regulatory costs are taking money out of the pockets of hard-working South Dakotans, stunting economic growth in our country and hurting the citizens our government is meant to serve.

While we have made improvements to agencies such as the VA, too many veterans today are still suffering at the hands of administrative bureaucracy. We have an Indian Health System in need of total overhaul, employing twice as many bureaucrats as actual health providers. Meanwhile, tribal members are literally dying awaiting care the federal government has an obligation to provide. We must seek ways to make these and other agencies more efficient.

In the next Congress, addressing our debt crisis must also be a priority. The long-term driver of our debt is mandatory payments and interest on our debt, currently over $19 trillion. Yet Congress does not even debate the merits of mandatory payments, which accounts for more than 70 percent of our spending today. I have been working with a number of other senators to find ways to revise the budget process here in Congress, so we can address our budget crisis. What we have been working on would open up the entire budget to congressional management, including mandatory payments.

As we move forward to the 115th Congress and a new, Republican administration eager to work with us, rather than against us, I am optimistic in our ability to build on the successes of the past two years. But we must also get serious about bringing real changes that will leave our country even stronger for the next generation of Americans.

By Rep. Kristi Noem

The swearing-in ceremony on January 3 marks the official start of the 115th Congress, but our work to prepare for these next two years has been ongoing for months.

Last summer, House Republicans introduced a once-in-a-generation blueprint for the reforms we feel are necessary to move this country forward. In late December after most of Congress had gone home for the holidays, I – along with just 23 other members of the House Ways and Means Committee – came back to Washington to hammer out two critical sections of this blueprint: tax reform and healthcare reform.

On tax reform, we worked on a framework for a simpler, flatter and fairer tax code. Coming from a state that has zero income tax, I wanted to share a real-world example of the economic benefits of a lower tax rate. As a busy mom, I wanted to speak to the importance of a simpler tax return – one that may even be simple enough to fit on a postcard. As an experienced small business owner, farmer and rancher, I wanted the tax code to incentivize growth in the American economy. And as a taxpayer, I wanted the loopholes to be closed and the IRS to be held accountable. Our work continues, but I’m glad we were able to communicate this vision from the onset.

On healthcare reform, we plan to take immediate steps to repeal Obamacare. While we’re still navigating the best legislative path from that point, we are committed to protecting the healthcare needs of all Americans. At our meeting in December, we worked through a number of ideas for creating a system that no longer relies on mandates, but instead ensures affordable access so families can choose what works best for them. This plan would deliver unprecedented freedom, empowering Americans to purchase the healthcare plan of their choice, manage how they spend their healthcare dollars, and access their electronic health records. Moreover, it would include tools that drive down the actual cost for delivering healthcare, an expense that is higher per person in the U.S. than almost any nation in the world. The only way health insurance is going to be affordable is if the delivery of healthcare becomes less expensive too.

With so much at stake, it was important to get a seat at the table for South Dakota during these debates. After all, there are challenges that come with having just one representative in the House. Places like Texas, for instance, have dozens of congressmen who can represent the state’s interests on any given issue. A state like South Dakota, however, occupies just one of 435 seats, so making our perspective known requires a deliberate effort. Getting in on these types of conversations is one of the reasons I fought for a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee last Congress.

Our state might be small, but we’ve already had a major impact on what’s expected to be an aggressive 2017 agenda. What’s more, those contributions have helped establish the tone for the 115th Congress and set the legislative branch up to hit the ground running on Day 1.

John Lillibridge of Burke is one of 13 former basketball players who will inducted into the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

The eighth annual induction ceremony will be at 1 p.m. on March 25 at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls.
Lillibridge achieved career totals of 1,984 points and 1,008 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

At the University of South Dakota he played basketball and was a record setting discus thrower.

By Senator Mike Rounds

Each year around the holidays, Jean and I like to reflect upon all of our blessings. We are incredibly grateful for our family and friends, our good health and the fact that we get to call South Dakota home. We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our loved ones, including my dad Grandpa Don and his wife Rosemary, Jean’s parents, our four kids, their spouses, our eight grandkids and all of our extended family members.

For as long as I can remember, our family has always gathered together after the 5 o’clock Christmas Eve mass at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Pierre. We look forward to celebrating the holiday at our house with our family again this year, and continuing to tell the story of Christmas and reflect upon what is truly important this holiday season: family, friends, and the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is also important during this time to express our gratitude to the men and women in uniform who may be spending the holidays far from home. Because of their service, the United States is the greatest, freest, most prosperous country in the world. I recently had the honor of attending a welcome home ceremony in Sioux Falls for the 196th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, and it was heartwarming to see families reconnect after spending nearly one year away from each other. We wish all of our servicemen and women, and their families, a blessed holiday season, and we pray that they will all be together again very soon.

For some, the holidays can be a challenging time of year. Showing kindness to our neighbors—and to strangers—costs nothing and can make a difference in someone’s day, week or even year. We have so much to be grateful for as South Dakotans and Americans. During the Christmas season, we are encouraged to spread the message of peace on earth and goodwill to all. This is a message that we should remember throughout the rest of the year as well.

Once again, I would like to wish all South Dakotans a very blessed Christmas and peace in the new year. I thank those of you who took the time to write, call or meet with me as I traveled across the state. It is an honor to work for you in the United States Senate. Thank you for all you do to make South Dakota the best place in the world to call home.

One of my favorite times of the year farming was the day we started to put the seed in the ground, because on that day, the seed had every opportunity to produce a high-yielding harvest. The next few months would require hard work to help that seed mature – and we’d need to pray that factors outside our control would cooperate as well – but that was all yet to come; planting was a day of hope and opportunity.

Each new year, we find that same sense of optimism about what’s to come, and perhaps nowhere is that truer for 2017 than in Washington, D.C., where the new year will bring a new Congress, a new administration, and a new hope for the future.

The repeal of Obamacare will likely be one of the first seeds planted in 2017. For years, our efforts have been shut down by Senate Democrats or vetoed by the president, but we now have a path to repeal. At the same time, we have been working openly and collaboratively to assemble a replacement for Obamacare that fundamentally decreases the cost of healthcare, increases access and affordability, protects coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and our young people, and gives you the peace of mind that your most intimate financial and health decisions can be made by you with the consult of your doctor.

While the next Farm Bill isn’t expected to be finalized until 2018, the hearing process is expected to begin in 2017. We have already begun writing some of the new policies that ought to be included, but we’ll continue collecting feedback and ideas throughout the next year.

Comprehensive tax reform is another 2017 priority for both Congress and the president-elect. In 2015, I became the first South Dakotan in history to earn a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which is the committee that specializes in tax-related reforms. We’ve been focused on writing a new tax code that is simpler, fairer, and more accountable than the one that exists today.

President-elect Trump and Congress also have fixing the regulatory environment at the top of our New Year’s resolution lists. Some of these regulations can be repealed by the administration acting alone. Others will require congressional action. Either way, it’s a must-do beginning this January.

We will also continue our efforts to reform the Indian Health Service, expand the Black Hills National Cemetery, keep the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery open, increase support for the Lewis & Clark rural water project, maintain services at the Hot Springs VA Hospital, and ensure anti-human trafficking efforts have the support they need. Supporting the administration on national security and border security issues will also be a priority.

There is plenty of work to be done to make sure these seeds of opportunity produce a harvest in 2017, but I am encouraged by the outlook. This New Year, I hope you too can find the hope and optimism that defines this season. On behalf of my entire family, I wish you the best in 2017.