District 31 crackers talk cannabis, department merger

So we didn’t have to Sami Peil went to Deadwood and live-tweeted the District 31 crackerbarrel where Republicans State Senator Tim Johns, Representatives Mary Fitzgerald and Scott Odenbach held court. I lived in Lawence County for thirty years and have asked Johns to consider legislation that would hold Barrick harmless if an ice climbing park were to be built in the Open Cut. 

What follows is my take on Sami’s notes. 

Sen. Johns, a lawyer and former judge said it's been a really busy legislative session and that Governor Noem plans to veto cannabis legalization. Odenbach, also a lawyer who sits on the education and judiciary committees, said he gets a hundred emails a day about therapeutic cannabis. 

Fitzgerald, whose husband is the Lawrence County state's attorney said she is surprised about the overwhelming support for legalization. The lawmakers agreed that if IM26 survives therapeutic cannabis will be very limited and Odenbach believes the Supreme Court will throw out Amendment A. Fitzgerald is on the governor’s cannabis panel and thinks HB1100 kicking cannabis down the road a year will pass. About half of those in the audience support legal cannabis. 

HB1100 gives tribes a giant head start on the cannabis industry so I love it. At least three tribal nations trapped in South Dakota are planning cannabis grow-ops so white people should quit whining and simply urge the nutbag legislature to legalize simple possession then get the hell out of their way. 

Deadwood Mayor Dave Ruth asked about the SB44 sports betting bill. Rep. Odenbach said he supports it but believes video lootery is out of control in South Dakota. 

Odenbach said he can't support the merger of the Departments of Environment and Agriculture because clean water is important to him. Fitzgerald is also against it saying it's important to protect our water and resources and saving $500,000 isn't worth it. Johns said he thinks it’s a bad precedent. 

All three legislators believe Noem should release the flight logs pertinent to her campaign trips. 

Asked about HB1199 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, Fitzgerald said it sounds like a very important issue and she supports it. Odenbach said he thinks "crimes in Indian country are a scandal" and said he always looking for ways we can work with our “Indian brothers and sisters." He said part of the problem is the overlapping of jurisdictions. 

The final question was on Daylight Saving Time. Odenbach loves it but Fitzgerald said changing the law would be difficult.

Photo is lifted from Sami's Faceberg page. I logged with her dad, Gregg Seim and her uncle Rod in the late 1970s, some of the best times of my life.