February 26, 2018

Business Day/Business Caucus Results – Your Turn to Vote

The business community assembled in Pierre last Thursday to learn about the issues facing the legislature and to have an opportunity to talk to the public servants that make the ultimate decisions on those issues. 

In spite of another year when snow and dubious road conditions kept a good number of people at home, nearly 80 people assembled for the Issue Briefing and Business Caucus which featured 23 questions on the same issues facing legislators during the session.  Click here for a report showing the answers that caucus participants chose.  Several of those questions and responses were shown at the Business Day dinner and all of the questions and answers were shared with all legislators Friday morning in their mailboxes.

Your Turn – The Chamber’s board of directors is interested in hearing what the general membership thinks about the issues discussed during the business caucus.  Using the link below you can answer the same questions.

Click here https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/WP6KKTF or copy and paste in your web browser if the link fails to take you to the survey.

Lieutenant Governor Honored with Distinguished Legislative Service Award

Lt. Governor Matthew Michels has been part of the legislative process for 19 years, serving 4 years as Speaker of the House of Representatives and 8 years presiding over the Senate as Lt. Governor which also makes him President of the Senate.

The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry gave Lt. Governor Michels the Distinguished Legislative Service Award during the Business Day dinner.  The Chamber didn’t honor Lt. Governor Michels for longevity or his survival skills – the award salutes his long record of working to find solutions to very complex issues by bringing together the people who find those answers.  He has been a steadfast advocate for growing the economy and also applying the role of government in providing services essential to a society and the marketplace.

The award was presented by Business Day Co-chairman Jaf Karim, Black Hills Energy, Rapid City and past member of the SD Chamber Board of Directors (pictured on left below).  The Chamber wishes to thank Matt and Karen Michels for their years of dedicated public service and the high standards demonstrated throughout their years of service.  (Business Day event duties are shared with Dawn Morris, Pierre, former board member and past Board Chair of the South Dakota Chamber.)

Governor’s Licensure Bill – Fails to Pass House Floor Vote

HB 1319 was Governor Daugaard’s attempt to create a multi-state compact that would allow people who work in professions or skilled trades that are regulated by state laws, and require some kind of license or certification, to operate in another state that had approved the compact without having to get a new license first.  The bill only garnered 18 votes on the floor of the House of Representatives – exactly half of the number of votes needed to pass. 

The announced intention for HB 1319 was to allow people working with licenses and certificates from their state of origin to begin working immediately and continue to work for 18 months before needing to get licensed or certified in their new state.  HB 1319 would technically allow someone to work in another compact state for those 18 months without ever having to actually move to the second state.

Among several problems that HB 1319 could not get past was the strenuous objections of a number of professional groups including (if not especially) physicians along with dentists, architects and even surveyors.  Many of these professions pointed out that their national licenses already had a process that accomplished what the multi-state compact was trying to achieve.  A growing list of these professional groups drafted SB 172 which formally exempted themselves from the provisions of HB 1319.  

The Governor’s team talked in general terms about some licenses being designed more to limit entry to some professions/trades than to protect the public.  They also viewed HB 1319 as a way of helping some people move to South Dakota without having to put their work lives on hold awaiting new licenses.  The most mentioned example was Air Force Officers moving to Ellsworth Air Force Base with spouses that can meet the shortages of skilled workers right away and not have to take time off to get credentialed here.

The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry testified in support of HB 1319 as a way of expressing gratitude for Governor Daugaard’s efforts to try to solve some of the workforce needs for South Dakota businesses.  The Chamber’s testimony did include support for letting the professional ranks be amended out of the bill.  There were over 140 occupations listed as potentially being impacted by this bill, reducing the list by a dozen or so didn’t seem to hurt the idea.  In the end – as the old adage goes – the dogs just wouldn’t eat the dog food and HB 1319 died on the Floor of the House. 

Here is that vote:

HB 1319, House, Do Pass Amended - 2018

  Yeas 18   Nays 46   Excused 6   Absent 0 

Business Day also features the annual Manufacturers Showcase which can be viewed by clicking here or on the website www.sdchamber.biz under the News button.  The Showcase provides a sample of the diverse products produced in South Dakota, the global reach of some and a glimpse at a number of the best employment opportunities available in the state.

Thank you again to our Business Day Sponsors:  POET, NorthWestern Energy, Black Hills Energy, CenturyLink, local development offices for sponsoring the reception and local chambers of commerce for sponsoring their district legislators.  (A complete listing of these sponsors is included in the annual Action Report that will be mailed to the membership this week.)  We also thank our Board of Directors for hosting Cabinet Members and Constitutional Officers.

Thank you for your support of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry.