South Dakota Rep. Brian Gosch at the Rapid City Crackerbarrel Meeting

South Dakota Rep. Brian Gosch

South Dakota Rep. Brian Gosch was one of the featured speakers at the Rapid City Legislative Crackerbarrel meeting today  (video below).

Gosch is the House Majority Leader in the South Dakota Legislature.  Gosch said there are 247 bills in the House this year, 171 bills in the Senate, 14 House concurrent resolutions, 2 Senate concurrent resolutions, 2 House joint resolutions, and 4 Senate joint resolutions.  Gosch explained that resolutions have no force of law and only make a statement, and concurrent resolutions affect both chambers.  Joint resolutions can be used to refer matters to the ballot.

The deadline for action on bills is Tuesday for every bill to be through committee, and Wednesday for every bill to have been voted on in its originating house before it can advance to consideration by the other body of the legislature. This is known as “crossover day.”  There are three weeks to go in the legislative session.

Gosch said there are a number of education related bills in the legislature this year dealing with a variety of aspects of education.

Gosch also addressed education funding. He said he has family members on school boards, and stated that schools often build up their capital outlay fund because they don’t know what the legislature will do from one year to the next, but that some of this money could be used for various purposes including teacher pay.

Regarding HB 1182, the education tax increase which was voted down earlier this week, Gosch said there was nothing in the bill which specifically earmarked the money for teacher salaries. He said SB 131 changes the education funding formula, while HB 1182 proposes to fund the teacher salary increase through an increased sales tax. Gosch said he would prefer to use existing funds, including general funds, to pay for that teacher pay increase rather than through a new tax. Gosch said South Dakota is #1 in reserves, and that money could be used.

Before we take more money out of the pockets of the people of South Dakota, Gosch said he wanted to see us live within our means and use existing revenue. That is why he voted “no” on HB 1182, he said.

The video below provides Gosch’s statement in full.

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Bob Ellis has been the owner of media company Dakota Voice, LLC since 2005. He is a 10-year U.S. Air Force veteran, a political reporter and commentator for the past decade, and has been involved in numerous election and public policy campaigns for over 20 years. He was a founding member and board member of the Tea Party groups Citizens for Liberty and the South Dakota Tea Party Alliance. He lives in Rapid City, South Dakota with his wife and two children.

Bob Ellis

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