Category Archives: News

PIERRE — McCook Central School District Superintendent Dan Swartos will be the next executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association.

The SDHSAA board of directors announced the decision after an executive session at the board’s Wednesday meeting on Jan. 11.

Board member Brian Maher, who led the search for a new executive director, said Swartos had a varied background as a successful coach, school administrator and member of the National Guard band.

“He rose to the top of a very good pool,” Maher said. Other finalists for the position included Avon School District Superintendent Tom Culver and Aberdeen Central High School Principal Jason Uttermark. Uttermark is also a member of the SDHSAA board.

Swartos said he plans to work at McCook Central through June and start his SDHSAA contract on July 1. SDHSAA board chairman Steve Morford of Spearfish appointed three board members to work out the final details of Swartos’ contract. Those board members include Maher, Sandy Klatt of Brandon Valley and Jim Aisenbrey of Baltic.

Swartos is in his fifth year as superintendent at McCook Central in Salem. Before that, he spent four years as superintendent of the Big Stone City School District. He has coached football and wrestling at Brookings and football at McCook Central.

A National Guard member for 17 years, Swartos was deployed as a truck driver in the first Iraq War. He currently plays trumpet in the National Guard Army Band based in Mitchell.

“I’ve always been interested in athletics and the arts,” Swartos said. “This is a way to serve students of the state in a little different capacity.”

As a school superintendent for nine years, Swartos said he has closely followed the actions of the SDHSAA and its board.

“I think they’ve been doing a very good job,” Swartos said. “It’s an association that handles things well.”

The South Dakota High School Activities Association directs and coordinates interscholastic activities for member high schools. This includes the scheduling of athletic events, organizing state tournaments and deciding questions about student eligibility.

With the association’s broad spectrum of duties, Swartos predicted his first goals would be to become familiar with its responsibilities, look over the budget, look at what’s working and what needs to be improved.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” Swartos said, characterizing his decision to leave McCook Central and Salem as “bittersweet.”

Swartos will replace executive director Wayne Carney who will retire at the end of the current school year.

Gregory County Man Pleads to Sexual Contact with a Minor and Distribution of Controlled Substance to a Minor

Attorney General Marty Jackley and Gregory County States Attorney Amy Bartling announced that Donald Kelvin Story, 51, Dallas, pled guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, methamphetamine, class 2 felony, punishable by to 25 years in the state penitentiary and/or $50,000 fine and one count of sexual contact with a child under the age of 16, class 3 felony, punishable by up to 15 years in the state penitentiary and/or $30,000 fine.

Between Feb. 1, 2016 and May 6, 2016, Story engaged in sexual acts and provided methamphetamine to a minor in his place of residence located in Dallas, South Dakota.

This case was investigated by the Gregory County Sheriff’s Office and Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office and the Gregory County States Attorney.

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

When I ran for Senate, I ran on the promise to do everything I could to repeal and replace the unworkable Affordable Care Act (ACA) and mitigate the damaging effects it was having on South Dakota families, health care providers and small businesses. After two years and a Republican entering the White House eager to work with us, the 115th Congress has finally begun the process of repealing and replacing the ill-advised law.

The Senate took the first steps recently by passing a repeal resolution, a necessary component that will allow us to repeal the law later this year by a simple majority vote. Meanwhile, the Senate continues to work on a replacement that is affordable, market-driven and truly centered around the patient. These are the fundamental principles that Obamacare has failed to deliver to the American people.

As the repeal timeline is established, there will be a transition period before its replacement is fully implemented. We recognize the need to protect healthcare benefits during this transition. There is agreement that continuation of coverage is an important part of any replacement plan. We anticipate that there will be many options made available for health care design and coverages through this replacement legislation. However, all will include a guaranteed renewal of coverage, portability of coverage and children remaining on their families’ plans until the age of 26.

Since the partisan law was enacted seven years ago, Americans have been painfully aware of its shortcomings. Supporters of the law promised that premiums would go down. Instead, they continue to skyrocket, increasing 37 percent in South Dakota this year alone. Supporters also promised that those who liked their coverage could keep it, yet since the ACA was enacted nearly 5 million Americans lost the health care plans they enjoyed.

Americans are also left with fewer health care options when seeking coverage. Because insurers are losing so much money on Obamacare, many have left the marketplace altogether. Over half of the Obamacare co-ops have already failed. South Dakota is one of nine states which have only two health care providers offering insurance plans on the exchange. Five more states have only one provider in their state, a dramatic decrease from the pre-Obamacare era.

Countless South Dakotans have contacted my office to share their problems with Obamacare. One father of three from Rapid City wrote me recently to explain that his family’s premium was rising 357 percent for 2017. “I do not know what my next year will bring,” he wrote, “but I do know that I will likely be unable to afford my premiums or my needed health care.”

Another gentleman, from Sioux Falls, is facing a 47 percent increase in his premium this year, on top of an increase in copays and the deductible. A South Dakota veteran also wrote asking Congress to provide Obamacare relief to small business owners after seeing his premium more than double from $800 a month to more than $1,600 between 2014 and 2016. Hard-working, middle-class South Dakotans “are falling through the cracks,” he pleaded. I couldn’t agree more.

Since the law was being debated in 2009, I have warned that Obamacare is unaffordable and unsustainable, and that it would eventually crumble under its own weight. That is what we are seeing today, and that is why the 115th Congress acted swiftly to begin the process to repeal it. As we continue the march toward repeal, we will also work on a replacement that is truly affordable, patient-centered and market-based.

By Sen. John Thune

The Republican-led Congress heard the American people loud and clear on Obamacare. The law is broken beyond repair, and Americans are looking for a better, more patient-centered approach. According to a recent poll, eighty percent of Americans want to see the law substantially changed or repealed and replaced entirely. In South Dakota alone, I’ve heard from hundreds of people who have been negatively affected by Obamacare, and it is heart wrenching to read some of their stories.

One person in particular told me the premium for his family’s health insurance spiked by 357 percent this year. Stories like this one are why South Dakotans are upset and why they feel let down by a political party in Washington that sold them a lemon of a health care system. Obamacare was supposed to drive down costs, but premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed. It was supposed to increase choices, but some Americans have been relegated to a single option for coverage. That’s not choice, and it’s not affordable either.

The law isn’t working, and the sooner my Democrat colleagues accept that reality, the sooner we can move toward a health care system that actually works for the American people. Democrats have been so focused on the number of people they claim have signed up for Obamacare that they forget about the millions of Americans who lost the coverage they had and liked before the president signed the bill in the first place. They also forget that when it comes to Obamacare, “coverage” and “affordability” aren’t exactly synonymous. The deductibles for some plans are so high that it’s hard to even call it coverage at all.

That’s why Republicans have for years pledged that when we had majorities in both houses of Congress and a willing partner in the White House, we would repeal this failed law once and for all and replace it with common-sense reforms that put the American people first. Congress has already taken some important first steps that have laid the groundwork to fully and finally repeal and replace Obamacare, but there’s more work ahead.

It’s important to know that when we send a repeal bill to President Trump, we won’t be pulling the rug out from under the American people. Our plan will include a transition period to protect Americans with existing Obamacare coverage from being left high and dry. While we’re still determining how long that transition period should be, Republicans are unified in our goal to repeal Obamacare, which is why we’re using it as a starting point.

When it comes to replacing Obamacare, you’re not going to see Republicans roll out a massive government-knows-best bill that takes over the nation’s health care system. Democrats tried that with Obamacare, and it failed miserably. Republicans will work toward replacing Obamacare with step-by-step reforms that actually lower costs and increase access to care. It’s what the American people deserve and have been asking for, and I hope Democrats join us in working toward this important goal as well.

Greetings to everyone in District 21. Another year has come and gone, and once again legislators have gathered in Pierre for the 92nd Legislative Session. I pray that everyone had a very blessed year.

During the first week, we heard the State of the State address, the State of the Judiciary from Chief Justice Gilbertson, and the State of the Tribes from Chairman Robert Flying Hawk.

Governor Daugaard delivered his State of the State address on the first day of the session and highlighted his top priorities for the session, as well as progress made in specific programs. One of the biggest lows for South Dakota is that revenue is down an additional $5.8 million from the time of the Budget Address. This totals $31.9 million from what was expected. This drop in revenue was due to a down farm economy, low inflation, lower tourism numbers compared to a record in 2015, cautious consumers, and online purchases. With regards to revenue, Governor Daugaard’s biggest news was that Amazon will begin collecting sales tax on February 1, 2017. This will help South Dakota fill the gap created with the decreased revenue during the past year. Another piece of good news is that our state obtained AAA bond ratings (the highest possible) from three major credit agencies. Also, the governor was happy to report that teacher salaries have increased 11.9% this year, with the average teacher salary being $46,937.

One of the biggest issues Governor Daugaard mentioned that is facing our state is an increase in methamphetamine trafficking. He listed three goals for 2017 to address this problem: stop meth from coming into South Dakota, educate people to prevent use, and help those addicted to stop using meth. We will be seeing some bills come up this session to address this growing concern. Some of the new proposals we are seeing so far are to make some changes to the Public Safety Improvement Act, incentivize effective completion of treatment, and to propose grants to expand HOPE 24/7 probation to all counties.

Another topic that will be receiving a lot of attention this session is Initiated Measure 22. The governor called on the legislative body to repeal and replace IM-22. Governor Daugaard stated that this signals a need to end out-of-state organizations from experimenting with South Dakota’s Constitution and laws and protect the state from interference from these groups. Regarding this issue, there are a few points I would like to clarify. In December 2016, a South Dakota judge ruled IM-22 unconstitutional and entirely unenforceable. An out-of-state group spent out-of-state money in excess of over $1 million in dark money (meaning they don’t have to disclose their donors) with less than $1000 of SD money used to mislead South Dakotans with a 34 page, 70 section measure they knew was unconstitutional before they put it on the ballot. Also, as it is currently written, IM-22 would cost the state tax payers over $5 million every year to pay for political ads and prohibit teachers, nurses, business owners, and others from serving in the legislature. There are two bills that the Secretary of State has submitted to replace IM-22. SB53 would create a Campaign Finance Ethics Commission and SB54 deals with revising certain provisions regarding campaign finance requirements. There is a lot to iron out with this measure and it will prove to be a source for many interesting discussions.

The ballot measures you voted on this past election were supported strongly with out-of-state money. Only $1 of $10 spent in advertisement and promotion was money from SD in support of the measures. The very reason this process was put in place in the 1800’s when SD was first established was to prevent outside interest groups from running the business of SD. Now, it has turned full circle and out-of-state money is what is driving the ballot issues brought to a vote of the people of SD. This process is being looked at and legislation will be seen to turn this process back to the people of SD.

I look forward to serving you this year.  Please contact me at lee.qualm@sdlegislature.gov with your ideas and concerns. Have a wonderful week and stay warm!

Representative Lee Qualm
Majority Leader
Vice Chairman State Affairs Committee
Legislative Procedures Committee