This week a pair of measures surfaced in the South Dakota legislature that have gained the support of the State Farm Bureau.  Farm Bureau Lobbyist Mike Held says one of those measures calls for providing a safer hunting zone around rural residences and livestock. He says current state law allows adjoining landowners the right to hunt in road ditches and rights of way of neighbors and also allows them to give written permission to hunters requesting that. Held says this bill would remove that option.

 

Held says the other piece of legislation they support would give counties a greater share of state return on alcohol taxes. Presently the state gets 75 percent of those monies while cities and municipalities get 25 percent. Held says this would give counties a bigger piece of the pie.

 

Held says his group recognizes the need of counties to receive more funding and prefers this redistribution type of idea rather than allowing them to levy an extra tax. An earlier measure calling for them to have that taxing ability was defeated.