More Bills: McCrory Garden Potty, Billboard Fees, Steroids, Teacher Evaluations....

Session starts next week, and the bills are now pouring in. Some interesting proposals coming before the Legislature:

• HB 1027 authorizes the Board of Regents to pass the hat and spend up to $5 million to build a visitor center at SDSU's McCrory Gardens. No more taking a whiz in the wisteria....
• HB 1031 defines conference bridging services for sales and use tax purposes... but the Republicans will insist we're not raising taxes.
  
• HB 1042 doubles billboard fees. No wonder Munsterman et al. have been putting signs up early.
• HB 1045 adds more anabolic steroids to the list of controlled suibstances. More big government coming between you and your doctored muscles....
• SB 22 creates a fund to take donations for the Birth to Three Connections program. Oh, what the heck: let's just get rid of taxes all together and hope Denny Sanford funds everything for us.
• SB 24 requires annual teacher evaluations and creates a standard statewide evaluation process. How will Senate Education Committee member Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) vote on that expansion of state power at the expense of local control?
• SB 35 requires health insurers to get your signature before they change your policy to reduce your coverage. That seems a reasonable precaution to keep insurers from breaking their contract with us.
• SB 41 shows someone in Pierre remembered that if you're going to outlaw something, you have to say what you're going to do to folks who do it anyway. This bill makes providing daycare to more than 12 children a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Session begins Tuesday, January 12; legislators can submit new bills until February 1 (commitees get until February 2... since committees always take more time).