South Dakota

New political scorecard looks at South Dakota lawmakers on voting issues

Published

11 months ago

April 29, 2025

New political scorecard looks at South Dakota lawmakers on voting issues

Following legislative session, a lot of political activists and organizations look at how the lawmakers align with their respective beliefs.

One new “scorecard” is aiming to do just that on voting issues.

The scorecard is created by the Voter Defense Association South Dakota. Group leaders say their goal is to protect voter rights, which they believe are under attack.

The VDA looked at bills pertaining to the Initiated Process and scored legislators on how they voted on each bill aligning with the organization’s beliefs.

Legislators were scored by either gaining or losing “points” based on a yes or no vote on either their respective chamber’s floor or in committee.

Matt Schweich is the President of VDA. He said though Democrats have traditionally voted more in favor of the organization’s beliefs, three Senate Republicans scored the highest.

Those three Republicans were Senators Kyle Schoenfish, David Wheeler and Michael Rohl. On the House side, the top three scores were given to Democrat Representatives Nicole Uhre-Balk, Kadyn Wittman and Erin Healy.

“We as an organization do not think that the Initiated Process should be a partisan issue. It’s a question of process and it’s a question of the Constitutional rights of the people of South Dakota,” Schweich said. “It shouldn’t be a red or blue issue at all. And so, it’s very encouraging that the three top Senators are all Republicans, and that’s something we want to build on.”

Schweich said he expected the Senate to align closer to the views of VDA than the House based on his experiences in Pierre, but once he looked at all the data the gap between was larger than anticipated.

“I was little surprised it was different to such a degree. When you look at the Senate there’s quite a few As and Bs and B+s relative to the size of the overall size of the chamber with 35 members,” Schweich said. “The House, it’s a lot of Ds and a lot of Fs. We expected a difference, we expected the Senate to better. I don’t think we expected the Senate to be this much better.”

The scorecard can be found on the VDA’s website.

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South Dakota

Governor Rhoden signs school lunch bill into law

Published

7 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Governor Rhoden signs school lunch bill into law

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Governor Rhoden officially signed HB 1082 into law on Friday, March 27.

HB 1082 is a bill that establishes parameters for reimbursing school districts that provide free or reduced-price meals to students.

Representative Kadyn Wittman, who has worked to pass the bill for several years, expressed excitement and gratitude in a post to Facebook on Friday.

“10,000 kids across our state will now have access to free school meals. No stigma. No barriers. Just the support they need to learn and grow,” wrote Wittman.

“So incredibly grateful to everyone who made this happen. This is a big win for South Dakota families!”

You can see the full bill and its sponsors here.

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South Dakota

Retired Air Force four-star general Maryanne Miller speaks at South Dakota Mines

Published

19 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Retired Air Force four-star general Maryanne Miller speaks at South Dakota Mines

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.

Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.

She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.

“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”

Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.

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South Dakota

USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.

“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.

FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.

“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.

For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.

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