Legislature should focus on important issues

We have written in this space before how we feel the South Dakota Legislature should only meet every other year like some other state legislatures do, or every five years or so should hold a session where they only repeal laws, not pile more laws on top of us, many of which are completely unnecessary and totally against the idea that South Dakotans are independent people who don’t need to be told what to do.
It seems every year the legislature delves into topics and issues that we believe are well outside the scope of what that body should be doing. We don’t need the legislature to tell us how we should live our lives, what we should be doing in our bedrooms, what kind of entertainment a grown adult can and cannot attend, or cede the floor to controversial figures who serve no real purpose other than to get a special interest group a pat on the back. It’s all a gigantic waste of time.
While some in the legislature are busy attempting to pass bills that seek sympathy for the Jan. 6 rioters, they wait until the last minute to pass a budget, an issue that genuinely affects all South Dakotans. For every bill they debate about who should use which bathroom or who or who can’t attend a drag show at a college, South Dakotans continue to drown in property tax. We wish they would stop trying to legislate morality and roll up their sleeves and try to solve the issues that matter to all South Dakotans, not just a select few.
That isn’t to say that many in the legislature are not trying to solve the property tax issue. Some of our very own District 30 legislators have heard us loud and clear when it comes to our desire for property tax relief, and are doing what they can to that end. They are being joined by legislators from other districts, particularly here in the Black Hills, who have constituents who are also feeling the pinch from an ever-rising property tax bill. Something has to give, and we hope it’s not everybody’s checkbook that does the giving. Some very good bills have been introduced to that end, and for that, we are grateful.
Other issues that should always be at the forefront (and many years are) of the session is education funding and what we are going to do to fund and keep nursing homes viable in the state. Here in Custer we are fighting that battle as a group of dedicated citizens are working to try to get a nursing home operating once more. It can be done, but the state might need to provide some sort of assistance to help towns reach the finish line of this race.
We would love to see the legislature buckle down and put most of its focus on the real issues that affect the majority of South Dakotans, instead of the controversial social issues that are good for headlines but do little to assist the average South Dakotan. All sizzle and no steak is good for professional wrestling, not governing the people. We’ll be watching, and we will remember who went to bat to help our citizens, not who went to bat for an out of state special interest group.