HB 1052 - CO2 Pipeline

The Preeminent Debate Over Eminent Domain.

It would be difficult to find a more emotional or hard-fought battle than the CO2 pipeline and the battle to keep it from being built. 

The Chamber supports this project. 

·       The pipeline is critical to the ethanol industry

·       The ethanol industry is critical to corn farmers

·       Ethanol plants support other industries such as trucking, cattle feeding, and rail cars 

·       Burying CO2 is a national policy to avoid emitting it into the atmosphere

·       The pipeline achieves that national goal and strengthens all of the industries above

The Chamber continues to oppose HB 1052

·       It prohibits only CO2 pipelines from accessing the courts for eminent domain

·       Proponents of HB 1052 claimed it was about property rights

·       The bill ignores many threats to property rights

·       HB 1052 only addresses CO2 pipelines, not other pipelines or powerlines

·       HB 1052 changes the regulations for this project after it has started

HB 1052 passed out of committee on a vote of 10-Yea to 3-Nay and was approved by the full House on a vote of 49-Yea to 19-Nay. 

Here is the vote on HB 1052:

The question being "Shall HB 1052 pass?"

And the roll being called: Yeas 49, Nays 19, Excused 1, Absent 0 

Yeas: Andera, Auch, Aylward, Bahmuller, Baxter, Emery, Fitzgerald, Garcia, Gosch, Greenfield,  Halverson, Healy, Heinemann, Hughes, Hunt, Ismay, Jensen (Phil), Jordan, Jorgenson, Kassin,  Kayser, Ladner, Lems, Manhart, Massie, May, Moore, Mortenson, Muckey, Mulally, Nolz, Novstrup, Odenbach, Overweg, Pourier, Reder, Rehfeldt, Reimer, Rice, Schaefbauer, Schwans, Sjaarda, Soye, Uhre-Balk, Vasgaard, Venhuizen, Walburg, Wittman, and Speaker Hansen 

Nays: Arlint, Bathke, DeGroot, Derby, Duffy, Goodwin, Heermann, Jamison, Kull, Mulder, Peterson (Drew), Reisch, Roby, Roe, Shorma, Stevens, Van Diepen, Weems, and Weisgram

Excused: Randolph

HB 1052 now goes to the Senate where it will have a hearing before a committee.  The opponents will get another shot at it, hopefully we’ll be able to aim better.

Congratulations Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen.  The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry congratulates Tony Venhuizen on becoming South Dakota’s Lt. Governor.  Tony has been the Chief of Staff for Governor Daugaard, and Governor Noem and was just starting his second term in the House of Representatives.

Lt. Governor Venhuizen has a long history of advocating well-reasoned policies and has been accessible to the business community.  The Chamber looks forward to working with him in this new position.

Reemployment Assistance (a.k.a. Unemployment Insurance) Rates Lowered as Fees Raised

SB 26 - reduce employer contribution rates and increase the administrative fee rate for reemployment assistance.

 You can’t run any service without people.  This includes government services.  Unemployment Insurance is a joint venture with the state and federal government

·       The federal government is not paying their share of the staff costs

·       The state isn’t wild about paying for these costs either

·       Several years ago, these costs were partially paid for with an administrative fee

·       SB 26 increases this fee – slightly – to keep up with costs

·       SB 26 reduces payments into the Trust Fund to offset the increase in the fee.

A Challenge.  More than half of the businesses that are part of the RA/UI system do NOT pay into the trust fund and therefore will not benefit from the reduced fee schedule.  They don’t pay into the trust fund because they have sufficient funds in their account is fully funded and can cover any losses that might be paid by someone filing a claim.  South Dakota is one of a handful of states that allows businesses to earn a rate of “zero”.

Register today for Business Day at the Legislature – Thursday, February 20th in Pierre!

The agenda and registration details can be found at bit.ly/4dkpa5H. Early bird registration ends February 8!

Business Day at the Legislature is brought to you by the following:

• First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard
• POET
• Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota
• NextEra Energy Solutions
• American Petroleum Institute
• NorthWestern Energy

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