The South Dakota Legislature's Government Operations and Audit Committee is evidently so distracted by the GOP primary circus (or perhaps so beholden its frontrunner?) that it forgot that it was supposed to be reviewing the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the EB-5 visa investment program. Here's a draft agenda of GOAC's next interim meeting, May 7, 2014:
Corrections, Governor's office (maybe?), Department of Agriculture... hmm... no explicit mention of EB-5 and Northern Beef Packers. No subpoenaed testimony from Joop Bollen or Jeff Sveen. No apparent fuflillment of House Concurrent Resolution 1010, which the Legislative leadership used to defuse pressure for immediate legislative action on improprieties in the Governor's Office of Economic Development by promising that GOAC would "conduct hearings" (plural!) "on issues related to the Governor's Office of Economic Development, beginning this 89th Legislative Session upon receipt of three independent audits." HCR 1010 authorized GOAC's GOED hearings to "include a review of all available audits and other information, ordering of additional audits, questioning of persons involved in related economic development projects, and opportunities for public testimony."
GOAC held one hearing on GOED on March 7. The May 7 hearing appears not to advance the stated goals of HCR 1010. GOAC currently has no other meeting scheduled before the primary. And if EB-5 promoter Mike Rounds wins the primary, we may not hear another peep from GOAC on the topic.
At the risk of seeming too cynical, did anyone seriously believe the SD Legislature would participate in anything resembling a legitimate investigation of this fiasco? Unless and until we hear from the Feds about this matter, the white-wash will continue unabated.
Exactly, Curt.
DD is a unitary executive but expect the legislature move to gut the governor's powers after a Governor Wismer or a Governor Lowe takes the oath of office.
Robbinsdale Radical still has a feed in Madville's upper sidebar.
I have read everything I can find on this so-called scandal and still can't figure out what the big deal is. The state recruited cheese manufacturing and then needed more milk. So then they recruited dairies. The dairy herds had the unforeseen byproduct of male calves, which required the construction of a beef processing plant. One person double-billed his travel expenses, investors lost money and didn't get the visas they were promised, and the whole thing turned into a mess. But the cheese plants are making cheese, the dairies are producing milk and calves, and the beef plant will be running eventually. So people lost money; people are always losing money.
I guess I'm going to have to find some Democrats involved in Northern Beef Packers and EB-5 to get Anne to think there's a problem here. Sigh.
I don't think many dems were invited to that party. The one where massive amounts of investment capital was dolled out and select individuals were allowed to collect huge fees for losing others money and tarnishing south dakota investment image.
Something does not add up. Other than Kathy Tyler leading the charge, something happened with the Democrat leadership and Cory Brown from Gettysburg. I would never surrender or trust anyone who is a big contributor to the GOP and Governor. Just check who's on the legislative committee. What a joke. Why isn't Kathy Tyler on it. She knows what's going on. I would have her out on the campaign trail. This is so frustrating. Gloves off. Let's go! Let's take this State Back!
@Anne Beal For someone who claims to be a limited government Republican? You and your husband have apparently no clue what that means. Republicans believe in the free-market, Mike Rounds taking tax monies away from South Dakotans and using their tax payer dollars to assist Communist Chinese in owning a company in SD, picking them as a winners, over SD businesses? That is NOT what Republicans believe in. Millions of dollars of South Dakotans' hard earned monies were lost in this corruption.
You two embarrass every actual Republican in SD when you support such corruption and unRepublican conduct. It is the very willingness to turn a blind eye to Republican misconduct, that turns so many away from the Republican Party.
NBP was built because of the UNFORSEEN dairy byproduct of male calves?
Ummm keep reading Anne.....
Maybe Ms. Beal has a point. Maybe she HAS read EVERYTHING "she can find on this so-called scandal." That kind of is the point. Way too much has been hidden and swept under one man's dead body to permit the truth to be known by people who have a right to know. And yes, people in business do lose money when they operate carelessly. My concern is not about their money. I'm concerned about OUR money that people in positions of responsibility and authority were charged with safeguarding. We, the people, not only have a right to know, we NEED to know whether this "so-called scandal" was anything more than an historic level of incompetence and mismanagement, or felonious conduct in the name of this state.
Anne typifies the republican problem: $4.4 million of taxpayer money spent (at a minimum) and nothing to show for it, so what?! No accountability, no responsibility - no wonder republicans profess to hate government so much as they are so bad at practicing governing.
Maybe Anne is right, we just had too many boy cows.
The Dems finally get a gov and he is going to gut the office and hand that power over to the GOP controlled legis, Lar? Sounds like past Dem action in SD. As someone stated above, where is the Dem leadership? I would add, what leadership? Bernie? Obviously all owned by the same interests or NSA has them all on video, at state level as well.
don't quit your day job, les.
it sure is nice not having to counter the crap from dwc in madville's sidebar.
Anne Beal,
Since you have read everything you could find on this so-called scandal, perhaps you could answer a couple of questions those of us not in know.
1. Who has the $167 million in investor money and the $4.4 million in state taxpayer money.
2. Were satisfied with the full autopsy report and death investigation of Richard Benda? Most of the public did get to read that report because Jackley hushed it up.
I don't know what alternate universe you live, but it sounds like the same one Bosworth's live's in.