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DFP Commenters Increase Output, Write Equivalent of 32.6 Novels in 2018
Dakota Free Press fielded 29,099 comments from 698 distinct commenters in 2018. Who talked the most? DFP Top Commenters 2018 52 individuals, including myself, commented at least once a week on average....
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Play Legislative Bingo with the ACLU!
Dang it: if Governor Noem would quit hiring kin, I would get to blogging more bills! The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is working to encourage everyone to not just follow doings in the...
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SJR 1: Four-Year Terms for Legislators an Exceptionally Bad Idea
No… My Senator Al Novstrup (R-3/Aberdeen) hates answering to the general public. Thus, he has joined sixteen other Republicans (and two Democrats, Representative Ray Ring and House Minority Leader...
View ArticleSB 157: Come Testify for Pro-Democracy Petition Reform in Senate State Affairs!
Real petition reform is getting a hearing, and democracy needs you to testify! Senator Reynold Nesiba’s Senate Bill 157, a copy of my planned ballot initiative to repeal burdensome restrictions on the...
View ArticleHB 1094 Quashes Volunteer Petitioners, Lets Big Money Further Dominate Ballot...
House Bill 1094, the unnecessary and possibly unconstitutional proposal to make South Dakotans get approval from the Secretary of State before exercising their First Amendment petition rights, got some...
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Give Your Input Online and at Outdoor Campus West on Protecting Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake, one of South Dakota’s most romantic spots is being “loved to death,” says Rapid City landscape architect and park planner Patrick Wyss. Sylvan Lake at dusk Wyss is helping Custer State...
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Big Petitioning at Sioux Empire Fair: Join Us for Democracy!
Sure, I’m taking the state to court to reform our ballot question petition rules, but we have lots of good changes to make at the ballot box as well! Help us speak up for your rights at the Sioux...
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SDDP Volunteers Can Carry People Power Petitions at State Fair!
The South Dakota Democratic Party invites volunteers to sign up online to work their building at the South Dakota State Fair, August 29 through September 2 in Huron! The South Dakota State Fair is a...
View ArticleBHP: Online Activism Not Enough to Change Government Decisions
The Black Hills Pioneer notes that the Bureau of Reclamation recently decided to close the Belle Fourche Reservoir to off-road vehicles. BHP’s editors get the sense that the closure could have been...
View ArticleHB 1177: Vote for School Board at General Election, Extend Member Terms from...
House Education takes up a problematic bill from Representative Doug Post (R-7/Volga). House Bill 1177 would move school board elections from taking place each year during spring to taking place every...
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GF&P Comments Running Far Below Noem’s Claimed 83% Approval for Nest Predator...
Governor Kristi Noem and Game Fish & Parks claim that 83% of South Dakotans approve of the Governor’s Nest Predator Bounty Program, the unscientific and ineffective 2019 program of paying trappers...
View ArticleAberdeen School Board Shuts Public Out of Discussion of Emergency Plans
The Aberdeen School Board is holding a special meeting Friday, March 20, at noon at district headquarters on Third Street South. The board will be discussing the district’s emergency response plan, but...
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LRC Provides Public Feedback Button on Bills, Requires Health Screening to...
The Legislative Research Council has announced arrangements for public participation in today’s Veto-Plus Day of the South Dakota Legislature. Legislators are mostly staying home and connecting via...
View ArticleAberdeen Council Picks Mostly Businesspeople, Not Workers, Shoppers,...
Who’s on the committee the Aberdeen City Council formed Monday to talk about how to ease coronavirus restrictions and reopen the local economy? Business owners, including David Novstrup of Allevity...
View ArticleAmericans Defend Democracy by Signing up to Work Polls
In good news, Americans are standing up for democracy and signing up to work the polls on November 3: A month ago, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told ABC News that his state had about 33,000...
View ArticleLegislative Committees Taking Live Remote Testimony (and Documents!) via...
The South Dakota Legislature is participating in what we hope is a winter reflourishing of democracy by expanding opportunities for citizen participation in the Legislature. On Tuesday, the Legislative...
View ArticleHB 1054: Force Ballot Question Sponsors to Pay for Copies of Initiatives for...
For the biggest, meanest, most dangerous attack on initiative in South Dakota, turn to Representative Fred Deutsch’s House Bill 1054, which would price grassroots, volunteer ballot question drives out...
View ArticleSB 123: Require Public Comment on Attorney General’s Statements on Proposed...
Senator Michael Diedrich (R-34/Rapid City) proposes the first initiative-related bill of the 2021 Session I’ve seen that doesn’t attack the initiative process. Senate Bill 123 proposes to add a public...
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HB 1126: Tie Secretary of State’s Hands in Pandemic Response, Require Opt-In...
In response to valid concerns that crowded polling places could spread coronavirus, many states sensibly mailed absentee ballots to every voter. South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett did like...
View ArticleSB 123 Gets Worse, Delays Initiative Petitioning Another 20 Days
Never underestimate the Legislature’s ability to take a mediocre bill and make it worse. Senate Bill 123 seeks to incorporate public comment into the process of composing the attorney general’s...
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