SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – There were big developments regarding the future of South Dakota’s abortion laws that happened Wednesday in downtown Sioux Falls, as members of pro-choice and pro-life organizations reacted to a possible measure South Dakotans might vote on in November that could overturn the state’s near-total ban on abortion.

It has been a year and a half of traveling across the state, but Dakotans for Health announced yesterday that they had filed petitions containing over 55,000 signatures requesting the inclusion of what the group calls a “Freedom Amendment” on the November ballot. The Secretary of State’s office will now check the signatures for validity. About 37,000 valid signatures are needed to certify the amendment’s placement on the ballot.

The current South Dakota law — passed in 2005 and triggered immediately in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 “Roe vs Wade” Supreme Court decision — prohibits all abortions except when necessary to save the mother’s life.

At a press conference in the city’s downtown library, Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said abortion should be a matter the voters decide. He cited a 2022 poll of 500 registered voters in the state who said they want abortion rights decided by a ballot measure, not the Legislature.

“The abortion ban law passed by the Legislature is, in the most fundamental way, a question of the power of government versus the rights of a private citizen,” Weiland said.

Outside the library, approximately 20 protesters representing the anti-abortion group “Life Defense Fund” — co-chaired by state representative Jon Hansen (R-Dell Rapids) — repeated chants of “Deception is not Democracy.”

 

DES MOINES, IA – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said that more information and potentially more guidance or legislation could be coming to help law enforcement carry out a new law making it a crime for people to be in the state if they have previously been deported or denied entry into the country.

The action is part of a national focus by Republican governors to highlight what they say has been inaction by President Joe Biden’s administration to prevent undocumented migrants from crossing the border.

Law enforcement professionals across the state have questions as to whether they have the necessary resources to determine whether a person is in the country illegally or to transport to an airport those people who are in the country illegally.

The Governor has said that law enforcement will get the necessary information to perform these additional duties.

“If we need additional legislation. Or if we need to address and provide some rulemaking authority. Or whatever we need to do, we will,” she said.

When asked where law enforcement will get the information it will need to determine whether a person is in the country legally the Governor says that they will work with the Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens to make sure that the information gets out to law enforcement.

Texas previously passed a similar law that has been challenged in court.

Iowa’s law is set to take effect on July 1st.

 

DES MOINES, IA – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed new income tax cuts into law on Wednesday and on January 1, 2025 Iowa will join 13 other states with a flat income tax.

Right now, Iowa’s income tax rate ranges from 4.4% to 5.7%. Beginning Jan. 1, everyone’s tax rate will be 3.8%.

Reynolds says that when she took office, Iowa’s income tax was the 6th highest in the nation with the highest bracket at nearly 9%. Now, with this new flat tax rate, Iowa’s overall income tax will be lower than all of the surrounding states except South Dakota, which has no income tax.

The Governor also pointed out that even with previous tax cuts across the board, the state is still running a nearly $2 billion yearly surplus.

According to Reynolds, taken in a combined total, the tax cuts passed since she’s been in office will save taxpayers roughly $24 billion over 10 years.  She also says there’s still room for the state to make more tax cuts in the future.

This new tax cut speeds up existing tax cuts by one year and lowers it an additional one-tenth of a percent.

Nearly a third of legislative Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the cuts. Democratic Leaders however say the cuts won’t help the roughly half a million Iowans who don’t make enough to pay income taxes. They wanted a one cent sales tax cut but Republicans didn’t support that.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (South Dakota Searchlight) – A federal agency has issued final approval of a company’s plan to conduct exploratory drilling for gold above Spearfish Canyon.

The company is Colorado-based Solitario Resources. Project maps show some of the proposed drill sites are less than a mile from the canyon rim in the Black Hills National Forest, about 15 miles southwest of Spearfish.

None of the proposed sites are inside Spearfish Canyon, according to a decision notice Monday from the U.S. Forest Service. The decision finalizes a provisional approval issued in December.

The area of the canyon below the drilling locations is a popular spot, with attractions including Roughlock Falls, Spearfish Falls, Spearfish Canyon Lodge and the Latchstring Restaurant.

Opponents of the drilling include the nonprofit Black Hills Clean Water Alliance.

“Not only does this project pose a serious risk to water quality in Lawrence County — including Spearfish Creek — it would also disrupt wildlife, add to our worsening air quality issues, and directly interrupt the recreation and tourism industry in our area,” the alliance said in December.

Solitario said in a press release Tuesday that “several administrative steps remain before drilling begins,” but it plans to begin drilling in June.

“There has been a lot of misinformation in the local public domain about mineral exploration, and we are extremely confident that we will be able to demonstrate that mineral exploration continues to be an environmentally safe and economically important activity on multiple-use public lands,” said Solitario President and CEO Chris Herald.

The decision from the Forest Service says that based on an environmental assessment, the project “will not significantly impact the human environment,” and a more comprehensive environmental impact statement will therefore not be prepared.

Additionally, the Forest Service “is only authorized to regulate, but not prohibit, lawful locatable mineral operations,” the decision says. That’s due to the General Mining Law of 1872, which protects the right to explore for minerals on federal public land.

Under its power to regulate exploration, the Forest Service will impose numerous restrictions on the project to minimize disruptions to people, wildlife, the environment, groundwater, and cultural and archaeological resources. The company is also required to plug and cap holes, and restore drilling sites to a natural-looking condition.

Solitario’s plan includes up to 25 drill sites with holes averaging 1,300 feet deep. Drilling will occur mostly from May to October over the course of five years. The company will examine core samples from the drilling to determine whether there’s enough economically recoverable gold to support a mine.

The company is one of several proposing gold exploration or actively exploring for gold in the Black Hills, where exploration and mining have been ongoing since the 1870s.

The industry has brought jobs and economic growth, but also environmental damage. Before modern environmental regulations, the former Homestake Mine in Lead dumped so much pollution into Whitewood Creek that the waterway became colloquially known as Cyanide Creek. Another former gold mine, the Gilt Edge near Lead, has been the site of a cleanup funded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund for more than 20 years since the mine was abandoned by its bankrupt owner.

The only currently active, large-scale gold mine in the Black Hills is the Wharf Mine, near Lead and Terry Peak.

Lithium has also become a sought-after mineral in the Black Hills, with companies staking claims and exploring for deposits to mine for use in the batteries that power electric vehicles and other devices.