U.S., state legislators address public’s concerns

March 04-- Mar. 4--The first question asked of U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., during a cracker barrel session Friday in Mitchell was one about his recent vote for legislation blocking President Trump's emergency declaration.

Johnson was one of 13 Republican representatives who voted for the measure, which passed on Tuesday.

"I'm deeply disappointed in that," said Dwight Stadler, addressing Johnson during the event at Mitchell City Hall. "I voted for you. I expect you to maintain national security. And building the wall is part of it, and supporting Trump in that process is part of it."

Johnson replied that while he agrees with Trump that there is a serious situation along the country's southern border and he knew when he voted that his decision would not be a popular one, he voted against the president for three reasons.

First, Johnson said that he's aligned with Trump for four votes appropriating funds for the construction of a border wall prior to Tuesday's vote.

"We worked with the president to identify $3 billion worth of funds in buckets that he has legal access to," Johnson said. "And so when you add all those together, that's actually a lot more money through the normal process than what the emergency declaration would open up."

Additionally, Johnson said the money already approved for the border wall should be enough to build what can realistically be done before next year and that next year's budget will likely allocate an additional $2 billion.

His other two reasons for voting for the measure Tuesday are matters of principle: he wants to support the government's separation of powers and uphold the Constitution to which he took an oath.

"Whether you support this president or not, there is going to be a president in the future who has a drastically different world view than you do," Johnson said. "And when they're trying to do something that is the antithesis of what I want, I'm going to want checks and balances in the system."

Prior to answering audience questions, Johnson recapped the last four months of his freshman session, citing the passage of the farm bill, the VA MISSION Act, opioid legislation and criminal justice reform as some of the legislative session's victories.

Johnson said he's voted against two recent pieces of legislation that would have implemented gun control and said the issue that needs to be addressed is one of mental health, not of guns.

"The size of the magazine, that doesn't really change the mental health issues," he said. "In some respects, I fear that talking about that, about the physical components of a firearm, keeps us from addressing the uglier truths about why it is that our kids want to hurt themselves or others."

In response to other audience members' questions, Johnson said that he doesn't believe lowering the national deficit will be possible until a president makes it their main priority and that drastic reform is needed to improve Indian Health Services, which he said lawmakers on both sides believe is "an absolute American embarrassment."

District 20 legislators explain killing recent pre-K bill

The cracker barrel session also included discussion with District 20's three legislators: Reps. Paul Miskimins and Lance Koth, both R-Mitchell, and Sen. Josh Klumb, R-Mount Vernon.

While the segment started with the three sharing their opinions on how the legislative session has gone, the topic addressed more than any other was the recent rejection of a bill that would have created a committee to look into South Dakota's pre-kindergarten programs.

Miskimins said that as a "low-tax, low-service state," South Dakota only has so much funding and has to pick and choose which programs it goes toward.

Koth, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, said that there are currently other issues which are more pressing than exploring pre-k options.

"I'll be candid with you, the biggest issue we have right now is Medicaid reimbursement as it relates to two areas: long-term nursing home care and community service providers," Koth said. "That doesn't mean that education is not important, but we've got a serious -- very serious -- crisis in our long-term care facilities. They are closing. So we've got a lot of catch-up to do."

Koth also said that within funding already earmarked for education, special education programs are currently taking priority.

Klumb, meanwhile, said that he has voted against previous pre-K bills and likely will continue to do so because he thinks parents should be responsible for their children at that point.

"It's not the state's job to educate at pre-K. I think what we do with our public school system works great," he said.

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