First note would be the previously posted comment on HB1182 which the Chief has Officially Designated as the Small Schools Death Act, imposing a mimimum size limit of 195. This was sent to the hypothetical after-life of the much noted but non-existent 41st Legislative Day of the session.
Then comes HB1298, which would start the theoretical ball rolling towards shutting down one of the SD University campuses. There MAY be some merit to this, depending on how it was done. (Of course there’s still no need for a full campus at Sioux Falls where there are more people concentrated, but hey, what does THAT matter?)
…and now that the consolidation juggernaut is starting to roll for schools, why stop there? All those pesky COUNTIES could consolidate too, according to HJR1002. Of course only 43 counties would probably mean more virtual distance between the Legislooters and those they represent, and that would be a disadvantage…or would it…Hmmmm…from the Legislooter’s point of view, maybe it wouldn’t be a disadvantage at all.
In the never ending search for fresh blood more money comes SB171 to tax pipelines…er…to levy a fee to protect us against pipeline spills (which are SO everyday, aren’t they?).  This would set up a fee per unit of volume passing through the state. Pretty slick, eh? Historically, reminds the Chief of the ORIGINAL “robber barons” in their castles on the hills dominating the Rhine River…where they could and did collect fees on everyone and everything that sailed past them on the river.
It’s even better than road use fees on truckers since the state doesn’t even have to build or maintain the pipelines.
It just goes to show, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Finally, after losing their attempt at ending term limits, they’ve brought it back from the grave, like a bad vampire movie or something:
A state Senate committee has recommended lengthening the term limits that apply to South Dakota lawmakers.
Current law provides that a Senate or House member can serve no more than eight consecutive years in a chamber, although a lawmaker can switch and run for another chamber after being term-limited in one.
The State Affairs Committee voted 5-4 Wednesday to endorse SJR3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend term limits to 12 consecutive years in a chamber. It also would change the current two-year terms in the Senate to four years.
Bringing this back indicates that they just don’t get it.