PRISON TASK FORCES DROPS MITCHELL AND WORTHING, NOW FOCUSED ON TWO LOCATIONS IN SIOUX FALLS
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The Project Prison Reset Task Force held its final meeting on Tuesday in Sioux Falls.
The Task Force ruled out the Mitchell and Worthing sites, leaving them with only options in Sioux Falls, but as to the ones that have lasted, the question remains: can they be built under the price tag that the Task Force has laid out?
“The next steps now are to really build out that design plan and then go back to the full legislature and explain what we found,” Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen said.
The legislature will have to decide between a site off Bahnson Avenue and one off Benson Road.
Despite some of the positives in previously proposed sites, such as development costs in Mitchell and the original Lincoln County site, ultimately, those perks couldn’t overcome the lack of public support.
“There are people who supported the Lincoln County site, supported Mitchell, supported Worthing. other sites too, but at the end we had to find a site that was workable through the state but also feasible to pass in the legislature,” Venhuizen said.
The Task Force unanimously agreed on a motion to recommend a site with 1,200 beds in cells and 300 beds in a dorm-style facility, with a cost of no more than $650 million that will last for a century.
“We’ve not only done a better job by the people of this state, especially the people affected locally, but also people across the state who have to bear the cost, and we’ve saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in this construction process,” Speaker of the House Jon Hansen (R) Dell Rapids praised.
Despite estimations for a potential site that can fit the 1500 beds needed, totaling over $700 million, Hansen said the state needs to fight for as low a cost as possible before the full legislature votes on plans for construction.
Additionally, it needs to look into other states to see how that can be done.
“The number that we’re paying, $650 million, how does it compare to the numbers they’re paying in Nebraska, and we’re going to make sure the numbers are appropriate and that it’s different from what they’re doing in Nebraska,” Hansen said.
Part of the discussion for potential ways to lower costs is to look into the Construction Manager at Risk JE Dunn and Henry Carlson, and why there was only one bid for that position, but that joint venture simply helps contract many of the services to build the prison.
“Every component, concrete work, HVAC, landscaping, the plumbing, the electrical, we heard there were more than 40 different components, maybe a lot more, every single one is subject to a competitive bid,” Venhuizen said.
A date for the vote on committee recommendations is still undetermined; the planned special session was delayed back in June.
Lt. Gov Tony Venhuizen believes that when a vote does take place on either site, it should receive a lot of political support, saying both sites are excellent options.
USD BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL REPORTED
VERMILLION, S.D. (KTIV) – A building at Vermillion’s University of South Dakota was evacuated after a “hazardous materials incident.”
The Vermillion Fire EMS Department says on Tuesday, July 8, a chemical spill was reported at the Churchill Hanes Laboratory.
“Emergency crews responded swiftly, initiating evacuation procedures and securing the affected area,” stated Vermillion fire officials in a press release. “As part of the response, remote technical guidance was provided by the Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Hazmat Unit to assist in assessing and mitigating the hazard.”
The building was ventilated to ensure air quality and safety. Officials say once it was deemed safe, the building’s control was returned to USD.
No injuries were reported among first responders or anyone inside the building when the incident was reported. Vermillion Fire EMS says there is no ongoing threat to the community.
“USD is conducting a thorough review of the incident in coordination with emergency services to ensure all safety procedures continue to be followed to the highest levels,” stated officials in a press release.
Vermillion Fire EMS sent 11 personnel to the scene, with 3 apparatus and 3 support vehicles. They were assisted by the Clay County Office of Emergency Management, the University of South Dakota Police Department, and the University of South Dakota Administrative Staff and Support Services.
“We appreciate the quick and professional response of Vermillion Fire EMS and the valuable support from the Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Hazmat Unit,” said Chief Bryant Jackson, of the University Police Department. “The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff remain our highest priority.”
USDA CHIEF OUTLINES PLAN TO BLOCK CHINA FROM U.S. FARMLAND OWNERSHIP
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jacob Fischler / States Newsroom) – President Donald Trump’s administration will pursue a ban on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland as part of an effort to strengthen farm security, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday.
Appearing alongside other Cabinet officials, Republican governors and members of Congress at an event outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, D.C., Rollins announced a department initiative to block “foreign countries of concern” from owning U.S. agriculture lands.
Rollins said officials will even try to revoke lands already owned by China-backed entities.
The administration will “take swift legislative and executive action to ban the purchase of American farmland by Chinese nationals and other foreign adversaries,” she said.
The executive branch will also work with state and local officials “to do everything within our ability, including presidential authorities, to claw back what has already been purchased by China and other foreign adversaries.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the nation’s food supply was a national security issue on par with energy and water supplies.
Plan details
The seven-part initiative, titled the National Farm Security Action Plan, is based on the idea that “farm security is national security,” according to a preamble to USDA’s written plan.
U.S. farmers dominate the global industry, the preamble said.
“Because that dominance is earned and not assured, it is critical we continuously adapt our approach to American agriculture security and elevate it to the top echelon of national security priorities,” the document read.
To protect U.S. farmland, the USDA, with help from the Justice Department, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and cooperative state and local governments, will seek to block investment by foreign adversaries and launch an online tool to help farmers report on potential unknown foreign ownership.
The administration will look for vulnerabilities in the agricultural supply chain and attempt to ensure crop and nutrition programs are not being used to fund terrorist or criminal activity, while cutting down on fraud and abuse. The plan instructs the administration to strengthen biosecurity measures.
The initiative also calls for making sure foreign governments cannot access USDA research grants or other department funding programs.
The USDA will continue to work with the national security establishment and law enforcement to protect the agriculture sector’s critical infrastructure, according to the plan.
After Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Roger Marshall of Kansas at the event criticized the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an executive branch agency, for not having a spot for the Agriculture secretary, Rollins said she would be joining the panel as of Tuesday afternoon.
Farmland security
At the Tuesday event, speakers offered few specifics about the initiative but praised the administration for elevating the issue of foreign investment in farmland.
“A country has to be able to feed itself, fuel itself, and fight for itself to truly be free,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “We now have a president who understands it and is willing to do everything within his power to make sure the United States continues to be the greatest country on the face of the planet.”
“Our farmland is not just dirt, it is our national security, it is our economic future, it is our children’s heritage,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said. “And it is under threat, and the leaders here recognize that.”
Speakers emphasized what they called the threat of Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland.
“Today, we tell China to get the hell out of American agriculture,” Marshall said.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said his state had moved to ban Chinese equipment from telecommunications infrastructure and has worked to deny Chinese companies from owning farmland. He related a story of stonewalling Chinese-owned Syngenta, which sought a meeting with the governor.
“I said, ‘I have no interest in having a meeting,’” he said. “‘Have no interest in you being in Nebraska. My suggestion would be to leave. My suggestion would be to get a different job.’”
The company later sold their assets in Nebraska, Pillen said.
Alabama and China
Tuberville, who is running in the state’s gubernatorial race next year, appeared to say China owned 2.2 million acres of farmland in his state alone – a number that actually describes the acres of land owned by all foreign entities in the state. Chinese entities own no acres in Alabama, according to USDA data.
“China is a threat,” he said. “They’re not a threat. They are dominating us in almost everything that they do because we’ve sat back and the politicians have been counting their money instead of doing what’s right and helping this country stay in the front. We’ve got to be number one. We can’t be number two. We’ve got to fight back.
“They are coming into our country and buying our farmland. In my state of Alabama alone, they own 2.2 million acres of farmland. That’s right in Alabama. Foreign adversaries.”
Asked about the comment, Tuberville spokesperson Mallory Jaspers said he was referring not only to Chinese ownership but all foreign adversaries and indicated that he opposed any foreign ownership of U.S. farmland.
“Sen. Tuberville believes American farmland should be owned by Americans,” she wrote in an email.
The most recent year-end USDA report on foreign investment, in 2023, showed Chinese-linked investors held about 276,000 acres of U.S. farmland nationwide.
An analysis from the American Farm Bureau, an advocacy group, estimated Chinese investors accounted for only about .02% of all foreign owned U.S. agricultural land.
GOP governors back plan
In addition to Lee, Huckabee Sanders and Pillen, who spoke outside of USDA, the Republican governors of Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota and Oklahoma signed a Tuesday letter to Rollins in support of the plan.
“As America First Governors, we firmly stand together in our unwavering support of President Donald J. Trump and his administration’s National Farm Security Action Plan,” they wrote. “This plan is a critical and decisive response to the invasion of our land, food system, and sovereignty by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA LAUNCHES NEIGHBORING STATE TUITION PROGRAM WITH FOUNDATION FUNDS
CEDAR FALLS, IA (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The University of Northern Iowa will begin offering in-state tuition to students from Iowa’s six border states this fall, with the university’s foundation finding seed money for the program after Gov. Kim Reynolds removed its funding from the proposed state budget.
The Cedar Falls university announced the launch of its Neighboring State Rate Tuesday — a plan that will allow new students from Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin to pay greatly reduced tuition compared to their out-of-state peers. Tuition for these students, pending Iowa Board of Regents approval at the end of the month, will be set at $10,201 for the fall — a rate matching the one approved for in-state, undergraduate students.
“This is an exciting development for students and their families across the region,” UNI President Mark Nook said in a statement. “We anticipate that UNI’s Neighboring State Rate will attract even more talented students to our campus to take advantage of the wide variety of academic programs we offer, at an even more affordable price.
Funding to the tune of $1.5 million for the new tuition rate program was included in education appropriations legislation passed this spring, but Reynolds line-item vetoed the allocation before signing the bill into law.
In her veto letter, Reynolds cited questions about how current students would fall under the tuition change and the “expectation of ongoing funding” as reasons for striking out the appropriation. UNI originally requested $3 million in one-time funding for the program, she said in the letter, but later changed the ask to $1.5 million with the hope of future state funding.
University spokesperson Pete Moris said in an interview the UNI Foundation, the university’s fundraising branch, will provide $1.5 million to start the program this year, filling the gap left by lowered tuition rates. Students will pay around $12,000 less annually through the new tuition program than they would with traditional nonresident rates, he said.
After the veto, Moris said university staff and leadership believed the program should still get started as soon as possible, as it will take longer than the month and some change before school starts to see its full impact.
“We really need a full recruiting cycle to put this into play and to start spreading that message into those six states and getting the word out,” Moris said.
There are currently 467 students attending UNI from Iowa’s contiguous states, Moris said, with almost 75% of the group hailing from Illinois or Minnesota. South Dakota has the smallest representation of the group, with only six students. South Dakota has a statewide nonresident tuition program of its own, with 10 states, Iowa included.
Nonresident undergraduate students who don’t qualify for the UNI program will pay $22,359 for the 2025-2026 academic year, a 3% increase from last year. This rate, as well as rates for all other groups of students at UNI, are the lowest in the state for public universities.
“We really think that this is something that’s going to be a benefit from the state of Iowa in terms of attracting new folks to the state to help meet some of our workforce needs, but also for UNI,” Moris said. “The students from different places we have, adds to the vibrancy of our campus and the experience for our students.”
