Wismer: GOP 'local control' isn't

Brookings is not just home to SDGOP's most obese blogger:

An expert on preserving historic properties will present a series of workshops in Brookings. Bob Yapp, president of Preservation Resources Inc., travels America as a historic preservation and planning consultant. [Brookings Register]

South Dakota is 51st in The Empire for teacher pay: only Guam is worse.

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations decided Monday that a letter of intent should be sent to all school districts explaining the extra 0.3 percent of state aid is for teacher salaries only. School districts will receive varying amounts based on their enrollments. The additional $2.2 million came on top of a 3 percent increase made in the per-student allocation. Rep. Susan Wismer, D-Britton, said the school districts don't need a letter of intent. “It’s demeaning. We’re not respecting our local school boards to make decisions,” said Wismer, who’s running for the Democratic nomination for governor. “I think we’re going to be running against nothing short of a teacher shortage in the near future,” Sen. Billie Sutton, D-Burke, said. Early in the 2014 legislative session, a majority of Republican senators without saying a word against it rejected a resolution from a special legislative committee that looked at teacher availability last year. During the House discussion of the extra $2.2 million, House Democratic leader Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton said South Dakota would need to pay its teachers an additional $2,800 apiece to pull ahead of Mississippi into forty-ninth place among the 50 states. [Bob Mercer, Extra money for schools must go to teachers, lawmakers say]

If you are a South Dakota citizen, then you are a a part-owner of a huge gambling business called the South Dakota... http://t.co/a9bpOnAunv
— Bernie Hunhoff (@berniehunhoff) March 7, 2014

"The extremists don't speak for all SDans - they just speak the loudest! We're part of the silent majority & w/ them we'll win" @susanforsd
— SD Democratic Party (@SoDakDems) March 23, 2014

Brookings is not just home to South Dakota's most obese GOP blogger:

Harvard professor Dennis Norman will meet with South Dakota State University students, faculty and staff in addition to speaking about Native American health issues April 3. [Brookings Register]

This Is What the GOP’s War On #Science Looks Like http://t.co/4F4jwqPjZu #p2 pic.twitter.com/x3i43v3PvW
— R.Saddler (@Politics_PR) April 2, 2014

Every day that passes is another day where 70,000 Montanans go without health care. We need #MedicaidExpansion
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) April 2, 2014

From my inbox.

Larry --

For as long as I have known Susan she has always been one to stand up and do the right thing for South Dakotans. That’s why I was so thrilled when she told me she had decided to run for governor. For 35 years South Dakota’s executive branch has been under Republican rule and I believe Susan can change that this year.

I know very well that the road Susan faces is a tough one. In 2010 voters couldn’t see the toll Dennis Daugaard would take on our state as governor. It was clear after the crippling budget cuts and failure to provide health care to our most vulnerable that Governor Daugaard does not have the best interests of South Dakotans at heart.

That’s why I’m asking you all to support Susan’s campaign. Sign up to volunteer, host a house party, make a contribution of $250, $100, or $50 now - no level of support is too small, or too big for that matter.

Four years under Governor Daugaard was too many; we need to stand together with Susan as she fights to give South Dakotans a voice in state government.

Sincerely,

Scott Heidepriem

P.S. When you make a contribution today you help Susan spread her message across the state. Give $250, $100, or $50 today to stand with Susan.