Lange: SD Can Learn from Minn. Statesmanship, ND Criminal Justice

Last week I noted the difference in fiscal politics between Minnesota and South Dakota. That essay arose from a conversation with my neighbor and outgoing state legislator Gerry Lange. In the following guest column, he exapnds the view to include North Dakota:

Recent headlines here in Madison and in Minnesota highlight our two states’ sharply contrasting value systems. Here in South Dakota, our leaders are telling us we’ll have to cut ecucation funding to balance the budget! There in Minnesota, the finally-elected new governor, a multi-millionaire heir of the Dayton fortune, is acting like a statesman with “noblesse oblige!”

Rather than slashing education and vital services, he’s calling on his own class of affluent “winners” to come up with more income tax to patch their budget holes. How could sister states be so different? Could be a matter of their preferring a number one quality of life where it’s worth the trade-offs: more taxes for better wages, better infrastructure, and no taxes on food, clothing, auctions, and building contracts.

National government publications are rich with “best practices” from other states. As legislators, we brought home numerous “success stories” from meetings all over the country. One of the best that could save us millions is as close as North Dakota! They’ve been doing “electronic monitoring” and intensive probation for quite a few years. Results? 1000 fewer in prison than here, and a ten percent recividism compared with some fifty percent in most states.

Most of our leaders in Pierre know this, so it’s puzzling as to why we don’t adopt this successful approach. Do South Dakotans really believe that converting colleges to prisons has been a better strategy? Do tax-fearing voters really prefer to balance the budget on the backs of our kids?

—Gerald Lange, December 2010

Lange: Local Philanthropy Could Ease Taxpayer Burden on School Bond Issue

There's a trend afoot in the South Dakota blogosphere toward group blogging. Not here! (I'm just bad at delegating.)

But I am happy to present the occasional guest column. Today, my neighbor and outgoing State Representative Gerry Lange takes a crack at the school bond issue here in Madison.

Letter to the Editor, Nov. 9, 2010, by Gerry Lange

The “full-court press” is on to “sell” the public on investing 17 million in a new gym and much-needed renovations at the high school. This is necessary in order to provide the first-class education that will attract young entrepreneurs into our community. I think most people understand this. What they don’t understand is why the total burden has to be loaded on property taxes, already plenty high.

A quick check at the courthouse before the last bond proposal enlightened me to the fact that land-owners and other businessmen with high valuations will pay way more than main street professional and business people whose buildings are valued much lower.

The last legislature tried to remedy the vast discrepancies in land valuations across the state by going to a “productivity” basis. It remains highly controversial, especially the provision to change the way grasslands are treated. The net effect sounds suspiciously like an income tax. The head of the Chamber came unglued when I brought this up at a meeting at the capitol during the last session.

Truly, if every piece of realestate paid according to “productivity,” then we would be back to Adam Smith’s 1776 advice that taxes be collected according to ability to pay.

Totally engrained in our present tax philosophy is that we must “look out for number one” and just vote NO. Every successful politician will tell you so!

On a brighter note, there is a model alternative to taxation. T. Denny Sanford, Buffet, and Gates provide good examples of how to fund worthy causes. Our own community is loaded with folks whose lifestyles wouldn’t change at all after a hundred thousand or even a million-dollar gift to the school foundation. It’s strictly a question of values. Interestingly, there’s a book out there that explains how happy you can be by sharing your resources with worthy causes. So bottom line: act to look out for number one! But in a more enlightened fashion.

Liberal Blog Helps Patricia Stricherz Beat Gerry Lange?

Patricia Stricherz offers the following statement on winning a seat in Pierre with her surprise second-place finish in tonight's District 8 State House race:

Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have been given a privilege that few have been given — the privilege of accepting the voters call to service as Representative for District 8 State House. I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.

Finally, a word to all District 8 House Candidates. You are all great men and ran a good and respectful campaign. You stood for something you believed in, the citizens of District 8 and the state of South Dakota, and did something about it. Because of this you have my respect and admiration [Patricia Stricherz, e-mail, 2010.11.02].

That said, I can't help wondering: did the Madville Times help Republican Stricherz beat my favorite Dem and neighbor Gerry Lange? Stricherz beat Lange by 124 votes. Her strongest margin over Lange was right here in Lake County, where she outpolled him by 380 votes.

Lake County is the Madville Times' core market. Stricherz advertised here. She campaigned here in the comment section.

And now, barring a remarkable recount outcome, she's going to be my representative in Pierre. Wow. I'm serious: Representative-Elect Patricia Stricherz is the biggest surprise I've had all night.

Regressive Tax Structure Not Correlated with Healthy Economy

Rep. Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) has consistently advocated measures like repealing the sales tax on food and extending the bank and insurance income tax to corporate income in general to make South Dakota's tax structure more progressive. His opponents in the District 8 House race, Republican Patricia Stricherz and "Independent" Jason Bjorklund, have climbed all over each other to swear their opposition to income tax. Stricherz and Bjorklund both prefer a regressive tax system where they both as working-class folks pay 10% of their income in taxes while the rich people who control this state pay only 2% of their income in taxes.

Bjorklund and Stricherz have little reason other than electionering against Rep. Lange to oppose the income tax and other efforts to make our state's tax system more progressive. States like Minnesota with progressive tax systems are just as likely to enjoy healthy economic performance and business climate as state like South Dakota with regressive tax systems.

Think tank Minnesota 2020 studied the correlation between state tax structure and state economy in 2008. Minnesota 2020 ranked the states for tax progressivity, then ranked states on six different indices of economic well-being: economic performance, business vitality, development capacity, competitiveness, and two different measures of quality of life.

You can see Minnesota 2020's numbers here in PDF.

The results: comparing the progressivity rank with ranks with each economic index produces a slight positive correlation. In other words, states like Minnesota that move away from sales taxes and toward income taxes have a slightly better chance of having good business climates and quality of life than states like South Dakota that stick tax the poor harder than the rich. The correlation isn't much—the highest is a measly 0.20 on the economic performance index—but where it does show up, the correlation smiles on the tax system Gerry Lange proposes.

Now this doesn't mean you can't achieve relatively good economic results while laboring under a regressive tax system. South Dakota ranks 46th for progressivity in taxes, yet we come out in the top ten on three of the economic indices used in this study. We also rank 48th in business vitality, a measure of competitiveness and job growth from new businesses.

But you can also enjoy relatively good economic outcomes under a progressive system:

Why is this? One explanation is that states with the most progressive tax systems are better able to finance the educational and transportation infrastructure and the public services that a modern economy requires because they don't shift a disproportionate share of the burden of paying for these investments to households with the least ability to pay. The loss of high income households due to progressive taxation is offset by an increased ability to pay for public investments [Jeff Van Wychen, "Progressive Taxation: Not So Bad for Business After All," Minnesota 2020, 2008.01.21].

The evidence keeps building that Gerry Lange is right and South Dakota's tax system is wrong. Remember that at the polls tomorrow.

Olson and Bjorklund Quislings for TransCanada

Fargen, Lange, Schmidtke, Stricherz Recognize Oil Tax Breaks Wrong

KJAM asked our District 8 House and Senate candidates what they think of the millions of dollars South Dakota gave away to TransCanada this year as an incentive for building the Keystone pipeline (second question on each interview, minute or two in). The answers are instructive about who's looking out for South Dakota and who's making excuses for Big Oil.

Republican Senator Russell Olson offers no surprises with his passionate advocacy for Big Oil, saying the tax refund was "absolutely" good. He hews closely to the company line (TransCanada's and his boss's at Heartland Consumer Power District), telling us the Keystone I pipeline was an $800-million stimulus for South Dakota.* TransCanada is now the biggest property tax payer in the state, says Olson, pumping more money into school and county budgets than any other industry could. Every barrel of oil from TransCanada, says Olson, is one less barrel from petrodictators like Hugo Chavez. And TransCanada got $30 million less in refunds from Pierre than they originally projected. Olson says TransCanada has brought our state a "phenomenal amount of money," and the "economic benefit certainly outweighs the one-time $10 million rift that everybody is so worked up about."

That's a strong answer. Too bad it misses the point. Olson's Independent Democratic challenger Clark Schmidtke points out that we didn't need to hand out that $10 million in the first place. Both Schmidtke and incumbent Democratic House candidate Rep. Mitch Fargen note that neither North Dakota nor Nebraska offered such cushy tax breaks to TransCanada. If Russ's analysis of local benefits from the pipelines is correct (and I question even that), North Dakota and Nebraska got similar benefits for free. We could have gotten the same benefits and still kept that $10 million for education or health care or other local priorities, just as North Dakota and Nebraska did. Oops.

Schmidtke does answer the broader question about state incentives in general for economic development by saying he can support applying and even expanding these tax refunds to ethanol companies, since ethanol does more direct good for South Dakota farmers and workers. Fargen adds that the refund program TransCanada exploited was developed to support South Dakota's ethanol, soy diesel, and wind energy companies. He and Schmidtke agree that TransCanada's refund was a giveaway that produced few jobs for South Dakotans.

Posed the same question, incumbent Democratic candidate for House Rep. Gerry Lange doesn't hesitate to brand the TransCanada giveaway a bad idea. Lange recognizes the value of this tax incentive for the local energy projects for which it was originally intended, like the soy diesel plant. But that contractors' excise tax that we refunded to TransCanada is the same tax that hits school districts and counties when they build public improvements. Why, asks Lange, hit South Dakota taxpayers with that expense for building schools and roads and bridges, then turn around and give back millions to a foreign company for building a pipeline (which I will note gets no public use)?

Republican House candidate Patricia Stricherz (who, yes, is currently a paying advertiser here on the Madville Times) is just as forceful and unhesitant as Lange in saying the TransCanada tax refunds were "Absolutely not" a good idea. She notes that TransCanada has already had leaks in South Dakota and says companies that want to come here should have to prove themselves worthy.

So where does that leave Independent/9-12 candidate for House Jason Bjorklund? Let's read the transcript of his response to the question:

Admittedly I'm not entirely up on TransCanada. I haven't been in the Legislature obvioulsy, so I'm not privy to all the information they've had, but as far I understand this is a done deal and at this point there's nothing we can do about it. Do I think this is best way to bring buinsesses and jobs to South Dakota? No, not necessarily. We need to look at ways to encourage businesses to come here without spending the... limited resources that we have. Now this TransCanada thing it appears to be a done deal, they've got the money, there's nothing we can do at this point but sit back and look at the numbers how many jobs did it create in the state, was this a good move for us to do, and keep that in mind as we make future decisions [Jason Bjorklund, interview with Lauri Struve, KJAM Radio, 2010.10.13].

Here Bjorklund has a golden opporunity to put his 9-12 Project principles into action. He could rail against wasteful government spending and crony capitalism. He could show that he can translate the slogans he gets from national talk radio into real solutions that put South Dakotans first. Instead, he hems and haws and provides more cover for the Republican regime in Pierre than the declared Republican on the House ballot offers. Not necessarily... it's over and done... there's nothing we can do about it....

Bull-roar. A legislator not beholden to the GOP or Big Oil could do lots about it. He could declare it bad policy and a waste of money, as Schmidtke and Fargen do. He could point to other priorities where the money would be better spent, as Lange does. He could highlight the dangers posed by the pipeline, as Stricherz does. He could look ahead and vow to repeal the refund for the Keystone XL pipeline and recoup the money with a pennies-per-barrel pipeline tax (a good idea that Senator Russ Olson killed this year).

Schmidtke, Fargen, Lange, and even Stricherz are making clear that, on this issue, they recognize that we should put South Dakotans ahead of foreign oil corporations. Olson is proving once again that he's in the pocket of Big Oil. Bjorklund is hinting that he's more interested in covering for the mistakes and corporate giveaways of the Republican machine in Pierre than in challenging the powers that be and sticking up for average South Dakotans.

Olson-Bjorklund: The TransCanada Ticket

*So if Kristi Noem can look at South Dakota's current economic situation and say the federal stimulus failed, can we say Olson's imputed "TransCanada stimulus" also failed?

KJAM Offers Video Interviews with District 8 Candidates

Hey! KJAM Radio is going all TV on us! Our local radio station is putting candidate interviews up on their YouTube channel. Right now, they have interviews with three of our District 8 legislative candidates: incumbent Democrats Mitch Fargen and Gerry Lange and Independent challenger Jason Bjorklund. (Patricia Stricherz, get down to the radio station and record yours!)

The Fargen and Bjorklund interviews are just audio with a nice picture, but Lange gets full video. (Hey, Matt G., nice job walking into the shot!)

Give these interviews a listen—you can bet I will... with commentary to come!

Gerry Lange on KJAM:



Mitch Fargen on KJAM:



Jason Bjorklund on KJAM:



Update 2010.10.14: KJAM has now added Patricia Stricherz:

District 8 Poll: Schmidtke Edges Olson; Fargen and Bjorklund Top Lange and Stricherz!

Well, that's interesting. The latest Madville Times poll asked you, eager readers, whom you'd like to see as state legislators from District 8. The results:

District 8 State Senate:

Russell Olson	70 (50%)
Clark Schmidtke	71 (50%)

Votes: 141

District 8 State House (voters pick 2!)

Mitch Fargen	79 (58%)
Gerald Lange	47 (34%)
Patricia Stricherz	20 (15%)
Jason Bjorklund	69 (50%)

Votes: 137

As usual, margin of error on a Madville Times poll is roughly equivalent to how far Russ's average drive from the tee. But what might we read in these numbers?

We might deduce that the younger candidates have an advantage in Internet polling. But my man Clark has a good 20 years on Russ, and he still managed to tie the incumbent with a quick get-out-the-vote campaign. Keep knocking on those doors, Clark!

Glenn Beck fans are not of one mind. Jason Bjorklund's most significant political activity has been organizing the Madison branch of South Dakota's 9-12 clubs. Patricia Stricherz has attended those 9-12 meetings. Bjorklund broadcasts Glenn Beck's 9-12 credo on his campaign website; Stricherz has sworn her allegiance to said principles on this blog. Yet Bjorklund gets more than triple the support Stricherz does among the readers of this fair blog. Are the Glenn Becksters in our midst divided? Or could the Madville Times readership actually skew Independent?

The Senate numbers haven't moved much since I conducted the Lake County Dems straw poll at the end of July. On the House side, Fargen stayed on top, while the Bjorklund surprise got even stronger. Evidently Gerry's friends are much more likely to walk up to a Dems table downtown, while Bjorklund's boosters are much more Web inclined.

We know anyone taking on Russ faces an uphill battle against one of the biggest campaign war chests in the Legislature. Mitch looks safe: he's young, he's likable, and as far as I know, the only thing he's done to torque anyone off is co-sponsoring the Blog Control Acts (and I might be the only person in District 8 who noticed). Patty has yet to show any sign of advantage built from being a GOP standard-bearer in 2008. The real battle in the House may be for second place between veteran Gerry and the crafty and motivated Jason. Bjorklund is clearly getting a jump on hustle: he beat all of the District 8 candidates to getting billboards up around Madison, and we saw Bjorklund signs up on Highways 25 and 37 on the way to the State Fair. Bjorklund's hustling; it's time for the rest to catch up!

Stay tuned for more polls, including the only surveys and analysis anywhere on our local races!

Gerry Lange Rocks YouTube with Best SDPB Candidate Video Yet

Speaking of Gerry, here's my neighbor on YouTube!



This is Gerry Lange at his professorial best. He doesn't just recite a bullet-point résumé. He composes a thoughtful essay. He shows his history chops and his sense of humor by tying together quotes from Democrat Al Smith and Madison's own Republican Karl E. Mundt to make his point. He addresses the cultural climate of anger and frustration with government, then hits big issues:

1. eliminate the food tax ("as in every surrounding state!")
2. make affluent corporations pay their fair share
   
3. increase support for education as the key to better-paying jobs
4. open government and end no-bid contracts
5. end tax rebates to the TransCanada pipeline and other big operators
   

He wraps up with his vision of unselfish service to the common good. There's fine oratorical intonation, with Gerry not just reading the teleprompter but putting heart in his words. Plus he says onerous. Mmmm, vocab!

Representative Lange packs more intelligent politics into two minutes of video than anyone else in the race. Philosophy and particulars, substance and style: that's Gerry Lange!

Stricherz Video: Prayer Drives Inaccurate Negative Attack

District 8's only Republican candidate for State House, Patricia Stricherz, offers this video via SDPB's Meet the Candidates page:



Kudos to Stricherz on bringing some enthusiasm and force to her presentation, as well as some good details on her support for Iran divestment and legislation to protect first responders' jobs (what? they don't already have that? what kind of a jerk boss penalizes an employee for being a volunteer fireman?). And on a personal note, I like the hair. (Of course, hair is not a voting issue: Stricherz's long locks won't win my vote any more than would Pastor Hickey's defiant whiskers!)

My Sarah Palin alarm goes off a little when I hear the decision to enter the race was made after "prayerful consideration." That sounds like code for, "The Lord told me to run! You have to vote for me; it's God's will!" But that's probably just atheist me being overly sensitive.

I do find it interesting that Stricherz's prayerful consideration leads Stricherz to go negative early. I don't have a problem with "going negative"—too many commentators and spin-sters use that term to dismiss what may be perfectly valid criticisms of a politician's record. But if you're going to go negative, you should be specific and be accurate. Play that tape again:

My opponent is a career politician quite set in his political ways. By repeatedly switching political parties, he has been allowed to stay in office for eighteen years [Patricia Stricherz, "Meet the Candidates" video, SDPB, 2010.08.11.

Hmm... just one opponent? Which one does she mean: Gerry Lange, Mitch Fargen, or Jason Bjorklund? Those of us paying attention know she means veteran legislator Gerry Lange, but voters just being introduced to the candidates and the race may have no idea which one she's talking about. If you're going to go negative, go full out. Say the guy's name.

Stricherz's text here also misleads. I'm not sure you can characterize any member of South Dakota's part-time Legislature as a "career politician." My neighbor Gerry didn't get involved in politics until he was in his 50s, after serving in the Army Signal Corps and making his living as teacher, professor, and farmer.

And as for "repeatedly" switching political parties, well, I think Gerry ran as an Independent once, but I'm not sure that counts as "repeatedly." What has really allowed Gerry to stay in office for so many terms has been his good public service and good relationships with his constituents.

I will grant that my neighbor Gerry may be "quite set in his political ways" on some issues. but if "set in your ways" is a reason to vote against someone, I can't wait to hear Stricherz advocate throwing out stuck-in-the-mud Republicans like Russell Olson, Roger Hunt, and Don Kopp.

Stricherz's video has its political stretch and spin, but it does show more polish than Stricherz's first political appearances in the 2008 race. It looks like she's ready to run harder this time around.

Online Crackerbarrel: Lange on Budget, SDPB, and More!

You ask, Gerry Lange answers! Here are Rep. Lange's responses, unedited and uneditorialized, to the other seven questions submitted in the Madville Times online crackerbarrel:

Question #1, from Michael Black: "All of South Dakota wants to know why the budget was put off until the last couple days of the session. It's the most important job of the legislature yet it seems that it received the least amount of attention. How can you justify weeks of inaction? By devoting more time to the budget could we not come up with a better package in the end?"

Rep. Lange: "The budget process is long and tedious with every agency, department, and university presenting their cases for more resources. Revenue estimates are projected, but never certain. Federal expenditures are especially unpredictable this year. That's why we are spending an extra day next Tuesday for wrap-up and vetoes. There has been 'action' on the budget throughout the session. Some bills have been run, like the one to fund the Homestake Mine experiments. We Democrats prevented the two-thirds majority required for this special bill because we objected to the source of that funding. It will be funded in the general bill, but not from moneys we thought should go to education and health care. Your concern, Mike, is a perennial one. Thanks for asking."

Question #2, from Neal McIntyre: "Why put off the decision on the budget in anticipation of possible bailout by the federal gov't once again? This only makes the state more dependent on the federal gov't. Call the bluff of the federal gov't, streamline our budget, and live within our means."

Rep. Lange: "Similarily, Neal, we agree that delay and dependence on the federal government is not good policy; the alternative, to tax ourselves is considered even worse by the powers that be here in South Dakota. 'Living winthin our means' makes sense for us who grew up with that ethic, but times have changed, I'm afraid, with the credit card and pay-day loan mentality prevelant now."

Question #3, from Steve Jacobsen: "I'm curious about the amendments to cut the budget of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Do you know which lawmakers introduced these amendments? Why is this such a difficult thing to find out?"

Rep. Lange: "Steve, it should be on record who decided to cut SDPB. Probably happened in the Appropriations Committee or the Governor's office. It has happened before, along with proposed cuts in the Arts Council, but were later recinded. The public has to 'howl' loudly to get our attention. Threatening retaliation in the fall might work, too!"

Question #4, from Linda McIntyre: "Why did no one address no bid contracts?"

Rep. Lange: "Linda, ending 'no-bid' contracts is a key plank in Sen. Heidepriem's platform, endorsed by all of us Dems."

Question #5, from Steven Kant: "I would like to know if the legislature was aware that they would be expected to finance the Sanford Science Lab to the tune of over 5 million dollars while the State and the Federal agencies worked their magic! Seems like a huge amount of money to be allocated while all levels of education are experiencing freezes and cuts."

Rep. Lange: "Steven Kant: I think we were aware of the needs at the Sanford Lab, but, in our view, money should have been no problem. There are plenty of economic development funds available which are constantly revolving as businesses pay back their loans. If we could get our incarceration problem under control, the five million for the new prison in Rapid City would have been better invested in research."

Question #6, from Curtis Price: [see separate post!]

Question #7, from Chris Francis: "The Madison Area Arts Council has been vocal advocates of the Arts, and we've been actively serving our community for well over 40 years, providing for and improving the quality of life for everyone within the Madison Area and beyond. What do you see as the Arts & Cultural needs of the Madison Community, and surrounding communities within your district, and how do you think that this programming should be supported, from the private sector, from the city, or more from the state and federal levels?"

Rep. Lange: "Chris Francis, my belief is that a civilization defines itself by the level of arts it is willing to support. The decision by the Chester school board to teach the violin to fourth graders illustrates what visionary leaders can do for a community. (I've been talking it up trying to get something started here.) Madison, too, is on the cutting edge, but does not get the support it deserves. Enhancing the arts should be the mission of all levels of government, reinforced by private philanthropy, of course. Like Andrew Carnegie said, 'any man who dies rich dies disgraced!' ....something like that. "

Question #8 from Cory Allen Heidelberger: "The Madison Daily Leader reported last week that the proposed budget includes cuts in tech spending for the schools, including the DDN videoconferencing network and the K-12 Data Center. Please shed some light on just what these tech cuts will eliminate and what impacts that will have on the state budget, on local schools, and on DSU (which is involved in managing the k12.sd.us domain and services).

Rep. Lange: "Cory: 'YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!' There'll be a blood bath this fall if all of these vital program are cut...or at least, there ought to be that 'moment of truth' for any politician so myopic as to shift this state into reverse at a time like this!"

Guest Column: Rep. Lange on Fiscal Responsibility, Business, and Death Penalty

Representative Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) forwards his Capitol Report for the past week. Notice two things:

1. Rep. Lange, with all his ingrained North Dakota Catholic socialism, is preaching fiscal responsibility and an end to dependence on the federal government.
2. Posting legislative reports online makes them much more easily accessible, researchable, and discussable than posting PDFs. Every legislator should sign up for a free blog and post their legislative updates just like this. (Legislators, if you need help setting up a blog, call me. I can have you blogging in ten minutes, no charge.)
   

Following is Rep. Lange's text, with links added by me (there's more value the Madison Daily Leader won't add).

Gerald Lange, Capitol Report, 2010.02.13

Last week, our Tax Committee turned down, on a party-line vote, HJR 1002, my proposal to allow the voters a chance to balance the budget by broadening our corporate income tax. Banks and insurance companies already pay it, so why not include the profitable WalMarts and others who just “export” these profits to their home states?

To me, the “art of taxation” involves plucking the most feathers from the public goose while provoking the least squack! Certainly, requiring out-of-state corporations to pay their fair share here in South Dakota should be a “no-brainer.”

The popular belief that we have no corporate income tax and that it attracks businesses is clearly false. My research shows that our “favorable business climate” depends more on other factors such as a trained labor force, transportation, and community services than it does on tax structure. Here in South Dakota, however, ideology seems to overwhelm evidence when it comes to the hard economic facts of life. “There is no free lunch!”

Next Thursday, the death penalty bill comes up in the Health and Human Services Committee at 7:45. Life without parole is a much better alternative and incidentally, saves taxpayer money by forestalling the costly appeals process. If you have an opinion, please let us know or come and testify.

As we move into the final weeks, critical decisions have to be made. Hopefully, with your help, we will choose to promote the “common good” when it comes to critical issues such as education, health care, and children’s welfare. The days of dependence on a near bankrupt federal government have ended. It’s time we took responsibility for our own future. Contact me at rep.lange@state.sd.us.

HB 1153 Tabled: Lange, Verchio Protect Property Rights

Last week I asked whether the Republicans sponsoring HB 1153 were taking their party platform seriously. HB 1153 removes barriers to eminent domain, making it easier for railroad companies to take your land. Weakening property rights doesn't seem to fit with plank 11 of the SDGOP's 2008 platform.

Maybe my neighbor Gerry Lange helped remind his colleagues of their principles. Rep. Lange joined some conscience-stricken Republicans in tabling HB 1153 this morning. Helping Gerry block this bill on a 7–5 vote were some Republicans I've taken a poke or two at on this blog, including Rep. Mike Verchio from Hill City.

But don't count a bill out until you hear the magic words "41st day."

HB 1245: Repeal Death Penalty in South Dakota

Count on my neighbor Representative Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) to stand up for principle and good policy. Lange is prime sponsor of House Bill 1245, a measure to repeal South Dakota's death penalty. Thirteen legislators, all Democrats, have signed their name to this bill. I applaud them for having the gumption to look South Dakota's screwed-up, bloodthirsty machismo in the eye and say that killing people, even killing bad people, is wrong.

Here's a quick review of the reasons you should call your legislators and tell them to back HB 1245:

1. Capital punishment doesn't deter crime.
2. Capital punishment costs more than life imprisonment.
3. Capital punishment risks killing innocent people.
4. Killing prisoners is immoral.

Let's do the right thing for our budget, for justice, and for our souls. Stop state-sponsored killing—pass HB 1245 and repeal the death penalty.

Lange to Offer Corporate Income Tax Bill

Democratic candidate for governor Ron Volesky advocated it yesterday on Dakota Midday; my neighbor Rep. Gerry Lange (D-8/Madison) is getting ready to submit it again to the state legislature: a corporate income tax!

The argument is simple: we have a structural deficit. We have national corporations like Wal-Mart and Menards that pay that tax in almost every other state in which they do business. Those corporations take our dollars out of our state to pay taxes in other states. Why not get a piece of the action and keep more of our money here in South Dakota?

And as you all gin up your arguments that taxes kill business (taxes actually help business), remember: if you pay a state corporate income tax, I think you get to deduct that on your federal tax return.

Rep. Lange Flips... at Kiwanis Pancake Feed!

Mmmm... pancakes! The Madison Kiwanis Club held their annual pancake feed yesterday at the City Armory.

Full house at the armory—it was tough to find a seat! If the picture looks a little hazy, that's not my camera: that's all those yummy pancake and sausage fumes. (Kiwanians get a carbon credit exemption for these greenhouse emissions.)

Pass the bipartisan pancakes: State Representative Gerry Lange (D–8/Madison) wields the spatula while Lake County States Attorney Ken Meyer slides in with another pitcher of batter. Democrats and Republicans, Catholics and Mormons (and don't forget the atheist taking the picture!)—a little more batter, maybe add kosher sausage, and we might have a recipe for world peace.

Gerry mentioned that a fellow Kiwanian beat him to the punch on selling pancake tickets to some of his usual "customers." That got Gerry's competitive dander up: he ended up selling just shy of 300 pancake tickets, a personal record... and a good chunk of money for Kiwanis!

And props to proud papa: Today Gerry can flip for his son Roberto, who just received unanimous confirmation from the U.S. Senate to serve as a U.S. District Judge.

These pancakes brought to you by Black and Decker. Set that beater on reverse, and you get French toast.

Obama Justice: Prosecuting Medical Marijuana "Not a Good Use" of Feds' Time

Change Bob Newland can believe in: medical marijuana lives!

Federal drug agents won't pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law [Devlin Barrett, "Feds to Issue New Medical Marijuana Policy," AP via Yahoo News, 2009.10.19].

Bob, when you get done with probation next year, consider putting a big Red Cross on the side of your wagon.

What do you think, everyone: is it time for my neighbor Gerry to bring out the medical marijuana legislation again? If we go that route, let's add an amendment to legalize industrial hemp (think cash crop, farm friends!).

-----------------
Update 11:20 CDT: Read the memo yourself, straight from the U.S. Department of Justice blog.

Road Tax Hike: Political Potholes and the High Road of Statesmanship

An interesting bit of bipartisanship took place this past week here in South Dakota. Five Republicans and six Democrats on the Legislature's interim highway committee proposed bringing significant increases in vehicle registration fees and the state gas tax up for debate in the 2010 session. This isn't some token Snowe job of one meaningless vote; after a summer of conversation (on top of a much longer history of the majority party putting off hard decisions under the guise of study and task forces), a genuine bipartisan majority of this committee decided South Dakota's transportation infrastructure is in such bad shape that we need to have a serious conversation about paying our way to pave our ways.

Consider the diverse voices backing this proposal:

• Republican committee chair Rep. Shantel Krebs (10-Renner) is vice chair of the state GOP. She's at the heart of the party that depends on South Dakota's "no-tax/low-tax" mantra to win keep power. Yet she is willing to be called a fool by members of her own party and support raising the road fees.
• Democratic Representative Gerald Lange (8-Madison) is a classic Catholic social activist, perhaps the noirest bête of South Dakota politics. He has consistently opposed regressive taxes like our tax on food as harmful to the poor and bad fiscal policy. Yet he is willing to compromise and support somewhat regressive road use taxes to prevent the collapse of our infrastructure.

In other grand expression of bipartisanship, all four Republicans and the lead Democrat running for governor in 2010 have come out against the increase. Where the bipartisan majority on the committee is motivated by the pressing need to shovel some asphalt, the group of gubernatorial candidates is motivated by the pressing need to keep shoveling a certain bovine substance.

Let me take issue most directly with the position taken by candidate who will probably get my vote next November, Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem (13-Sioux Falls):

Democratic candidate for governor Scott Heidepriem says state government needs to improve efficiency, not raise taxes, to pay for future road and bridge projects.

Heidepriem says $183 million in federal stimulus money should be enough for the state to meet its highway needs for now.

"I don't believe that an increase in taxation on the backs of people of South Dakota at this difficult time in history is appropriate given we already have received this amount from the federal government," Heidepriem said [Perry Groten, "Governor Candidates React to Proposed Tax Hike," KELOLand.com, 2009.10.15].

The point about the federal money available is well taken. Some commentators continue to use "rely[ing] on the federal government" as an empty talking point, but Heidepriem's position could be the most realistic one expressed: South Dakota is all about federal pork. South Dakota voters, especially the Republicans, love keeping our taxes low and relying on Uncle Sam to build our roads.

But the highway committee already factored those stimulus dollars into their deliberations. $85 million has already been awarded in 14 contracts. $5.5 million has to go toward enhancement projects (like the Lake Herman Loop bike path?!? Hey! Over here!). The remaining $92.5M needs to be dealt out by next March. The stimulus thus doesn't cover whatever road projects are on tap for 2011... which is what road fee hikes passed in the 2010 Legislature would kick in to cover.

Heidepriem also runs the efficiency argument. Sure, we can find some extra executive indulgences like state planes and no-bid contracts. But just a thought: does South Dakota want total efficiency? Total efficiency would mean consolidating all drivers license stations to Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, and Rapid City. Total efficiency would mean no school districts with enrollment under 1000 (2000? 5000?). Total efficiency would mean shutting down courthouses and consolidating all services into seven mega-counties along the circuit court boundaries.

My principal and former boss Dennis Germann once told me there's a difference between doing things efficiently and doing things effectively. (I think he was talking about the fact that I never sat down for coffee with other teachers.) I would suggest there comes a point where the pursuit of efficiency becomes the quest for a perpetual motion machine.

Now I understand there are political arguments behind all this. Facing an uphill battle in a state that hasn't elected a Democratic governor since the 1970s, Heidepriem can't afford to give the eventual GOP nominee any easy attack line on taxes. And Heidepriem could be concerned that Rep. Krebs and the other Republicans who are willing to stick their necks out for responsible fiscal policy now, after a summer of pleasant conversations out of the media spotlight, will cut and run during the session and the 2010 campaign, hoping the voters will forget this bipartisan vote (forget this vote? not with this blog around). Draw Dems out into a compromise on a vital issue, then bail on them to score political points: the national GOP has played that strategy on health care; what's to stop the state GOP from playing the same games with our roads?

Maybe the words of Rep. Mike Vehle (20-Mitchell), who opened discussion at Wednesday's committee meeting thus:

Everyone in this committee.. has a feeling that we need to do something... We'd all like to do probably a lot more than we feel in a recession we can do. But we need to take a hard look and be ready to explain to our colleagues the need that our highways have.... [A]ny society that lets its infrastructure fail or start to fail is also going down a wrong road and putting our society in jeopardy [Senator Mike Vehle, 2009.10.14].

The proposed vehicle registration fee and gas tax hikes don't have to be about politics. The proposals can be and should be about solving a problem and protecting a vital state resource. Let us hope the statesmanlike bipartisanship demonstrated this week by Krebs, Lange, Vehle, Merchant, and seven others will prevail over political potholes.

---------------------------------------
Bookmark this page for 2010 (or bookmark Pat's—we'll both keep track): here's a recap of who voted how on this particular measure on Wednesday:

Name	Vote	Chamber	Party
Ahlers, Dan	Aye	Senate	Democrat
Cronin, Justin	Nay	House	Republican
Elliott, Elaine	Aye	House	Democrat
Fryslie, Art	Aye	Senate	Republican
Juhnke, Kent	Nay	House	Republican
Knudson, Dave	Nay	Senate	Republican
Krebs, Shantel	Aye	House	Republican
Lange, Gerald	Aye	House	Democrat
Lucas, Larry	Aye	House	Democrat
McLaughlin, Ed	Aye	House	Republican
Merchant, Pam	Aye	Senate	Democrat
Putnam, J.E. "Jim"	Aye	House	Republican
Steele, Manny	Nay	House	Republican
Street, Steve	Aye	House	Democrat
Vanneman, Kim	Nay	House	Republican
Vehle, Mike	Aye	Senate	Republican
Verchio, Mike	Nay	House	Republican

Roberto Lange: From MHS Debate to Federal Judge

More proud-papa button-popping for my neighbor Gerry Lange: yesterday's MDL gives his son Roberto the front page to announce President Obama's nomination of the Madison HS graduate and Sioux Falls lawyer to the District Court of South Dakota.

And of all his experiences growing up in our fair city, which one springs to Roberto's—soon to be Hizzoner's—mind when asked for comment on how he got where he is?

Roberto Lange was born on April 22, 1963, in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain, while his parents were teaching there. When he was just over a year old, his parents moved back to Madison, where he was raised through high school.

He was involved in debate at Madison High School. Lange said that being in debate did contribute to his decision to get into law [Zach Anderson, "Lange Nominated to Serve in Federal District Court," Madison Daily Leader, 2009.07.15].

Oh yeah.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: if you're a teenager, and you want to make it big, join your high school debate team. Go to every tournament. Do every event you can. The things you learn and the people you meet will help you climb whatever ladder interests you better than anything else you can do in high school.

---------------------------
By the way, Gerry tells me that when the FBI came around to do the background checks, they did indeed ask about the nominee's father's support for legislation to legalize medical marijuana. The family line: on certain issues, sometimes, the apple does fall far from the tree. ;-)

Kloucek Promises Legislative Discussion of Chicoine-Monsanto Deal

Sibby and the Mitchell Republic bring us this story first; that Sioux Falls paper and DWC come toodling after: State Senator Frank Kloucek (D-19/Scotland) is proposing legislation to put some serious limitations and oversight on the ability of our university presidents to serve as highly paid corporate board members. Senator Kloucek is responding specifically to SDSU president David Chicoine's appointment to the Monsanto corporate board and the mondo bucks he'll get for that gig ($400K in cash and stock options, $80K more than he makes as SDSU president).

Kloucek's concerns sound very much like criticism we've heard from the SDSU Collegian and from this very blog: Big Ag buying influence, threat to public perception of the quality and independence of SDSU research, etc.:

“It’s just totally inappropriate to give that money to an individual rather than to the university for research,” Kloucek said. “It appears pretty clear-cut that they’re trying to buy influence at the university by buying influence with the president.”

...“There will be at least one bill,” Kloucek said. “I just think it’s better … to make it clear the we’re not in that kind of game at South Dakota.”

The appointment of Chicoine to the Monsanto board negatively affects the credibility of the university, Kloucek said, since crop research reports from SDSU could easily be assumed as skewed.

“This research must not be tainted in any way, shape or form and this certainly taints that research,” Kloucek said. “It … jeopardizes the integrity because it makes it look like we’re in the hip pocket of Monsanto” [Austin Kaus, "Senator to Regents: Fix SDSU Conflict," Mitchell Daily Republic, 2009.06.19].

It doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to reason that if a guy has two bosses, and Boss M pays more than Boss S, then when push comes to shove, Boss M will probably have more pull. (Remember the Golden Rule: he who has the gold makes the rules.) Of course, Dr. Chicoine, who has a Ph.D. in economics, doesn't see it that way:

"My value to them comes as an economist," [Chicoine] said. "It comes from independence.

"If you don't perform to the criteria that is required for your appointment as an independent member, your appointment is not maintained. If you're not fulfilling your independent director's business, you'd be lacking of integrity, and you're of no value either to the company or to your own profession."

..."I'm in compliance with regents policy," he said. "It is standard for the industry. There is a disclosure process and transparency process in place in this state and every other state for presidents serving in this regard. So I'm comfortable with it" [Steve Young, "College–Corporate Links Targeted," that Sioux Falls paper, 2009.06.21].

Kloucek's fellow Democratic Catholic farmer (and my neighbor!) Senator Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) isn't comfortable with it:

"I see a conflict," Lange said. "So, yes, I think Frank's onto something. I would support any bill he brought on the issue" [Young, 2009.06.21].

Strangely, the main blog voice from the seat of Monsanto's purchased power in South Dakota finds it more important to hurl personal insults at Kloucek (and surely, shortly, at Lange) than to address the actual issue:

Frnak [sic] Kloucek is proposing legislation.

Good for Frank. He can propose. Too bad it’s likely misspelled, and written in crayon... [Pat Powers, "Monsanto Job... Legislation to Be Utterly Ignored, Considering the Source," Dakota War College, 2009.06.20].

(I wonder if the Munsterman campaign Powers manages will be relying on such playground rhetoric. Powers could take a lesson in class from Kloucek, who criticizes the Chicoine–Monsanto deal without any such demeaning and irrelevant personal attacks.)

Should a university president, as Kloucek tells Young, "be living, breathing and eating SDSU 24 hours a day, seven days a week"? I'll grant a guy a sabbath... but I'll also note that DSU expects me to put DSU first, and I'm just a lowly graduate assistant. My contract explicitly forbids me from taking other full-time employment. That doesn't restrict me from serving on a corporate board (and I'll certainly consider offers to attend a few meetings for $400K a year... or even $40K a year!), but it does set a threshold at which DSU would consider me not to be putting sufficient emphasis on my research and teaching.

Public discussion of a similar threshold for our state university presidents is a fine idea. Senator Kloucek is to be commended for his willingness to raise this issue in Pierre.

Drivers License Fees Up 150% -- Who Voted for That?

My Mitchell blog nemesis Steve Sibson reminds me that I'd better get my driver's license renewed this month, since on July 1, the fee jumps from $8 to $20.

Sibby moans that we "can thank the Progressives for this." What? Really? There are "Progressives" in charge of the South Dakota Legislature and Governor's office? Sibby should have headlined that one "Breaking News!"

Whom exactly can we thank for a 150% increase in drivers license fees? I check the votes on Senate Bill 32, and find that our local Dems (I think we can safely call them "Progressives"), State Representatives Gerry Lange and Mitch Fargen, both voted No on the final bill. Our District 8 State Senator, Republican Russell Olson, voted Yes to raising your fees.

But this still makes sense. Conservatives like Senator Olson hate change. Come July 1, when you hand your county treasurer examiner* a twenty, she won't have to make any.

-----------------
*Correction, 2009.06.09 07:30 CDT: Classic case of where a simple mistake clouds the punchline. See comments below. I regret the error! Now, does anyone regret their vote for Russ? ;-)