‘LAME DUCK’ LAWMAKERS RACK UP THOUSANDS IN OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL EXPENSES
PIERRE, S.D. – A handful of South Dakota state lawmakers racked up thousands of dollars in expenses traveling out-of-state in 2024.
But at least five of those former policymakers racked up the expenses after deciding they would not run for re-election last year, or after losing a primary contest in June 2024.
That’s according to a review of state records obtained by South Dakota Broadcasters Association, which shows that all together, 24 lawmakers spent a total of $52,977.39 on travel reimbursements in 2024.
The over $50,000 figure is a substantial decrease from the prior year — travel reimbursements for lawmakers in 2023 exceeded $90,000. Last year, 33 trips ranging in location from New Orleans to Quebec were approved for reimbursements. For the second year in a row, Sen. Larry Zikmund spent the most taxpayer money for three trips. He tallied up $8,175.50.
Several lawmakers were repaid for multiple trips — including Zikmund, then-Rep. Kameron Nelson, Rep. Trish Ladner, Sen. Liz Larson, and former Sen. Jack Kolbeck.
While travel costs dropped in 2024, several lawmakers who had either lost their primaries or were termed out still racked up over $10,000 in expenses.
Former Sens. Kolbeck and Reynold Nesiba each traveled despite being ineligible to return to the Senate and not pursuing a “chamber-switch” to the House – the former did so twice. Meanwhile, former Reps. Becky Drury, Bryon Callies, and Gary Cammack took trips after the June 4 primary. All three lost their races in an effort to return to the House.
Drury and Kolbeck attended an October conference in North Carolina, while Cammack went to Columbus, Ohio for the Midwest Council of State Governments. Nesiba went to Louisville in August, and Callies attended the International Legislators Forum in Duluth just a couple weeks after his primary loss.
Previous defenses of lame duck travel have focused on the fact the conferences — which are often intended to serve as an educational opportunity for those attending — have to be booked months in advance, often before candidates can be sure that they will be returning to Pierre for the following session. Others have contended that legislators who attend conferences as lame ducks can, and often do, still come back in future years — that has been the case at least three times in the past.
That was true of Kolbeck. On Wednesday Gov. Larry Rhoden appointed him to fill a vacancy created in the District 13 House. That vacancy was created with Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen leaving the House to serve as Rhoden’s second-in-command.
Lame duck travel has loomed heavily over Pierre for the last several years. Legislation introduced in 2023 by the former legislative leadership team sought to prevent the pattern. However, that measure failed in the House, largely over concerns the matter should not be codified into law. Rather, it should be taken up by the Legislature’s Executive Board as a policy instead.
New legislative leaders say it’s a topic that could come up in their future meetings.
“I think we’d definitely consider it,” said Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, who in his capacity as speaker, also serves as the chair of the Executive Board. “It is something we should look into.”
LONG TERM MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LEASE BEING SCRUTINIZED IN PIERRE
PIERRE, S.D. (Austin Goss / SDBA) – The state of South Dakota will pay approximately $200 million more in office rental costs over the next 30 years under two leases with a Rapid City-based developer.
The contracts, signed during former Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration, have drawn scrutiny due to the long-term nature of the agreements and the substantial increase in rental costs for state office spaces in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
Hani Shafai’s company, Dream Design International, was awarded the contracts to build and lease the state’s new office buildings. The Sioux Falls One Stop, a 284,000-square-foot facility, opened in late 2023. It consolidates several state agencies under one roof and is located in far eastern Sioux Falls, a site that was touted for its “accessibility.”
Before the state moved into the One Stop, it leased 19 separate office buildings in Sioux Falls, costing $2.06 million annually. With the new lease, the state’s annual rent for the Sioux Falls One Stop will rise to a new total of $7.64 million — a 270% increase. Similarly, the Rapid City One Stop, which opened in 2022, saw a 177% jump in rental payments compared to what the state was paying for office spaces in the city prior to it.
Rep. Al Novstrup slammed the decision.
“There was a $200 million decision made without a legislative vote – that’s what happened,” he said. He added, “It’s a poor business decision to rent a property for 30 years. Reasonable people would not disagree.”
Supporters of the One Stop project, including officials from the Bureau of Human Resources and Administration (BHRA), defend the lease agreements they signed, arguing that centralizing services under one roof improves customer service and enhances working conditions for state employees.
“Because one-time dollars needed to be prioritized to other needs like building the prisons, owning this building would have required bonding,” BHRA Commissioner Darrin Seeley explained. “And the cost of bonding plus insurance and maintenance on the building would have cost $31.6 million more than the lease over a 30-year period.”
However, lawmakers still question the lack of legislative oversight in such a significant financial decision.
“This does not look good for the state of South Dakota,” Rep. Julie Auch of Yankton County said. “We need to know where all that money is going, and it makes you wonder if there are any other areas where money is being misspent.”
Shafai defended his company’s involvement, insisting that political contributions he has made previously to both state legislative and federal candidates — including Noem — were not a factor in the contract awards.
“I’ve never called a governor or a representative for personal uses where I say, ‘Hey, can you do me a favor?’” he stated. He also emphasized his broad political contributions across partisan lines. “I’m also writing checks to other South Dakota politicians… I’m interested in a state that’s given me the opportunity to be successful.”
Despite the defense, some lawmakers remain unconvinced. The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations has created a subcommittee to review the One Stop projects and the state’s authority to enter into such lengthy contracts.
“We’re taking the right steps now to understand how we arrived here,” said one anonymous subcommittee member.
YEAR-ROUND STANDARD TIME, DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BILLS BOTH ADVANCE IN NEBRASKA UNICAMERAL
LINCOLN, NE (Zach Wendling / Nebraska Examiner) – Nebraska lawmakers are another step closer to ending the twice-a-year switching of clocks back and forth one hour, but whether that is by shifting year-round to standard time or daylight saving time hasn’t been decided.
The Legislature’s eight-member Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance Legislative Bill 34 for year-round daylight saving time, from State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, and LB 302 for year-round standard time, from State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil.
Standard time refers to how most clocks in the U.S. are set in the winter, while daylight saving time is the period between the second Sunday in March (to “spring ahead” one hour) and the first Sunday in November (to “fall back” one hour to standard time).
Daylight saving leads to the sun setting at a later time in the summer, which organizations supporting youth sports and golf urged the committee last week to embrace.
The national group Save Standard Time urged the committee to consider the “honest, natural clock, set to the sun” as part of permanent standard time and its variety of natural benefits.
Hunt, a member of the committee, said she prefers daylight saving because the sun sets later in the summer, but the general goal is ending the clock switching.
“I don’t care which way we set the clocks,” Hunt said in a January text. “I just support stopping the madness of changing the time twice a year.”
Both bills would not go into effect until other surrounding states adopt similar laws:
For Hunt’s bill, three adjacent states to Nebraska would need to adopt a single year-round standard of time.
For Murman’s bill, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming would all need to adopt legislation for year-round standard time. State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner has said the list should include Colorado, to prevent a “southwest Nebraska time-zone island.”
Federal law currently prohibits year-round daylight saving time but does allow year-round standard time, which Hawaii and Arizona (excluding the Navajo Nation) observe.
Committee members were divided on the issue, with State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha voicing a possible preference toward permanent daylight saving time to have sun later in the summer for drinking margaritas and State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings noting later sun could help youth sports and businesses at night.
State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, the committee chair, asked about year-round daylight saving time leading to some students waiting at bus stops in the dark in the winter. Lonowski also pointed to purported health benefits of permanent standard time, which have been highlighted by major medical organizations.
Doctors have noted the twice-a-year clock changing leads to negative health impacts, including increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, accidents and mental health disruptions.
The committee will consider yet another approach later this year from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln — Legislative Resolution 33 — to pass the decision on permanent standard or daylight saving time entirely to Congress. If passed, the resolution would urge Nebraska’s five-member congressional delegation to take “affirmative action” on clock-changing reform.
The resolution states: “Such reform should advance Nebraska’s commitment to enhancing individual and family health, growing economic productivity, protecting agriculture, advancing Nebraska’s public safety goals and ensuring national uniformity.”
The committee on Thursday did not discuss a proposal to shift Nebraska’s method of awarding Electoral College votes for president to winner-take-all. And it passed over, for now, a measure that sought to prohibit local governments from considering rent control proposals.
