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Rep. Novstrup Gets Headline Wrong: AAN Says Bills, Not Open Hearings, Waste Time

In mostly fluffy opening comments at Saturday's Aberdeen crackerbarrel, Rep. Al Novstrup (R-3/Aberdeen) took issue with Thursday's Aberdeen American News editorial, which declared that the South Dakota Legislature wastes time and money with some bills.

Well, at least he acknowledges that Senator Brock Greenfield (R-2/Clark) has some bad ideas

Rep. Novstrup makes it sound like his local paper is telling him he shouldn't listen to certain bills in committee. Rep. Novstrup needs to work on his reading comprehension. The Aberdeen editors say Rep. Novstrup and his colleagues shouldn't file such time-wasters in the first place. Among the time-wasters, the editors identify numerous pieces of legislation sponsored by Novstrup and his local colleagues. Those with Novstrup's name on them include the following:

  1. HJR 1001, calling for a Constitutional Convention to write a balanced budget amendment. The Aberdeen editors call a convention "a waste of time and energy."
  2. HCR 1004, asking for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade, which the editors say is unlikely to happen, especially not at the request of a Legislature with no power over the court.
  3. HB 1094, the Legislature's effort to unravel the cost-of-living adjustment voters included in last year's successful minimum-wage initiated measure. The editors say this bill "could be considered insulting by voters."

Don't be fooled by Rep. Novstrup's rhetoric about putting in extra hours to do the people's business. A lot of the extra hours he spends in Pierre come because he files bills and resolutions that do his party's business, not the people's business. We wouldn't have to drag out those committee hearings (and limit debate on important bills) if Rep. Novstrup and others didn't clutter the agenda with their partisan time-wasters.

39 Comments

  1. grudznick 2015.02.08

    This brother Novstrup is a little older and more experienced it looks. I do like his haircut as well as his politics. This fellow is a champion of open government and won and award I am told.

  2. Owen 2015.02.08

    those house resolutions and HB1094 are exactly as the Aberdeen American News says it is . A waste of time

  3. Tim 2015.02.08

    Republican distractions, they use these to detract from what they are really up too. As evidence, I present Grudz.

  4. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    The Aberdeen American News has every right as anyone to state their opinion; however, their contention that the legislature is pressed for time by hearing any bills or resolutions is not based on reality. The reality is the legislature's schedule is a cake walk and they have tons of time to hear any and every issue South Dakotans want addressed.

    The ONLY time the legislature is pressed for time is when such circumstances are artificially created such as at the end of session when such pressure is orchestrated to put pressure on legislators to rubber stamp the final appropriations bill.

    The last thing South Dakotans need is for anyone to encourage them to not hear issues of concern for South Dakotans.

    Claiming resolutions are a waste of time is ignorant of their purpose and weight. It is also ignorant of the major historic impact they have played on our country. A resolution is at the center of the very core of our country's being..

  5. Tim 2015.02.08

    Stace, you mean like the one that said we don't have a teacher problem? Where's that pile of sand? Maybe I'll stick my head in it, so I can see what they see.

  6. grudznick 2015.02.08

    Mr. Nelson, most resolutions are a waste of time. Using resolutions in bogus scorecards is definitely a waste of time.

  7. Roger Cornelius 2015.02.08

    Or the GOAC hearings?

  8. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Tim at the minimal, voters learn to some extent where legislators stand on an issue. Not sure of which one you speak of, ones in the past I was aware of acknowledged the problems.

    @"Grudznick" From all your inane posing/postings, I can understand why you protest these legitimate legislative tools. Especially when they skyline the moderate Republicans you love so much.

  9. Tim 2015.02.08

    Stace, if voters want to learn where our legislators stand on issues all they have to do is look up ALEC's agenda, it's all in there. I was referring to the resolution last session that failed to acknowledge the ongoing teacher shortages we see every year. I'll look for the link so you can refresh your memory.

  10. grudznick 2015.02.08

    When somebody has "robocalling" and "hiding in bathrooms" in their bucket of legislative tools it does beg one to question their judgements of legitimate legislative tools. I'm just sayin...

  11. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Tim Some of the least conservative legislators in the past, have been the most influential in the SD ALEC operations. I was a member my first year and then cancelled. I did not support the paying of membership dues to them or any other w/ tax payer$$.

  12. Tim 2015.02.08

    Stace, it would be nice if they actually represented the people in their districts instead of some out of state business interests. They have followed ALEC for well over a two decades now, just look around the state, the majority of people that live here have nothing to show for it. The select few are doing quite well, not the rest of us.

  13. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @"Grudznick" Repeat an ignorant lie long enough and you get people to believe it. All you moderate (conservative posing) lovers whine I'm too outspoken and public with my criticism, now you claim I hid and was afraid to put my name to criticism? You may want to crack a dictionary and find a clue.

  14. larry kurtz 2015.02.08

    Anyone else watching denature trashing the DWC regulars?

  15. Tim 2015.02.08

    larry, I try to stay out of that sewage pit. lol

  16. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Tim I'm sorry. ALEC is not the problem you make it out to be. I saw little to no influence in the legislature. As David Montgomery previously pointed out, except for a small fraction few of us, previous voting records show little differences between the majority of the "Republicans" and Democrats. I can assure you that if ALEC was truly an influence that you thought it was, that would not be the case.

  17. larry kurtz 2015.02.08

    Stace: don't cross me.

    Koch/AFP/ALEC will destroy your state's experiment with democracy given the time and resources. You are either complicit or too thick to know the difference.

  18. larry kurtz 2015.02.08

    Hickey: work to sponsor a cannabis bill or our truce is over.

  19. Tim 2015.02.08

    Okay Stace, whatever you say.

    larry, do you think any of those people actually can comprehend what denature is trying to explain to them?

  20. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Larry Telling a big Bull conservative Republican not to cross you, is like telling water not to shed of a ducks back.. :-D

    You seem to forget that I beat the drum against all of the outside special interests $$ that bought the US Senate race.

  21. larry kurtz 2015.02.08

    Tim: of course not.

    Stace: we all know you were screwed in the primary, why you would come to Madville and pick fights with us remains a mystery.

  22. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Larry Picking fights on here!? How is that? Merely by posting on here?

  23. grudznick 2015.02.08

    Go Rhoden.

  24. Owen 2015.02.08

    Sorry Stace but I have to disagree with you. those resolutions are a waste of time. There is no end game to them. nothing is going to happen because of them and in a lot of cases that aren't necessary the wil of the people of South Dakota.
    Case in point. Last year when they had the resolution to impeach the President. All that did was make South Dakota look like a bunch of ignorant hicks.
    Lets try and concentrate on our problems here. With the one-party rule in this state the problems are many.

  25. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Owen History and this blog shows that resolutions have played important roles in our country and SD politics: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=1

    On my phone, so my response is limited; however, the legal impact of resolutions alone is significant and that is not even discussing the ability of such things to incite public awareness and debate on significant issues let alone influencing the political environment of elections.

    Discounting resolutions as being worthless ignores the significant legal precedence of resolutions in our history of government. Congressional resolutions have declared war, limited the president, etc.

  26. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.02.08

    Stace, you know as well as everyone here that I love having a good debate and making my position on issues clear to the public. But I stand by what I said in response to Rep. Scott Craig's posturing over HCR 1004: no vote on a resolution is as important as any vote on a bill that actually changes South Dakota law... with the exception of those joint resolutions that put amendments to a public vote or call for an Article V convention that could destroy the U.S. Constitution and undo all the hard work of Founding Fathers.

  27. grudznick 2015.02.08

    Even Mr. H is echoing me, Mr. Nelson. Most resolutions are meaningless.

  28. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Cory my position is a little different than yours. I always considered every bill and resolution equally important and agonized over the votes. I went so far as to take out radio ads apologizing for voting wrong on 2011's HB1230 and encouraging voters to vote against it.

  29. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.02.08

    Whoa, Stace. Yes, historically, some resolutions passed at the national level have had significance. The Founding Fathers also wore knee breeches and stockings; that doesn't mean that every pair of knee breeches and stockings is inherently awesome or worth our time.

    Try this challenge: name one South Dakota concurrent resolution of historical and practical significance.

  30. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @CAH Dang cell phone dropped my post. With my Mrs eating out for supper and she's chewing my ear for being rude..
    Easy one, CAH.. often the resolutions are used to build support for subsequent bills that are enacted. Additionally, as you know they are used to garner support/opposition for politicians. Hard to quantify the effect on elections; however, the imperial evidence of how heated the debates get should be convincing evidence of the accepted understandings of their impact by politicians.

  31. Bill Fleming 2015.02.08

    Emperical? Freudian slip? Hi Stace. How's things brother? :-)

  32. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    @Bill! Fat fingers on a tiny little cell phone nestled between two big mits! :-D I'm still big, ugly, & disagreeable, but enjoying life. You need to look me up for lunch at "Joe's" in Alexandria if your in my neck of the woods.

  33. Stace Nelson 2015.02.08

    You're (Grrrrr unruly fat fingers)!

  34. Donald Pay 2015.02.08

    The problem I have with resolutions as they are done now is that they don't have hearings at committee level, and no public testimony is taken, etc. It used to be that the more controversial or important resolutions went through committee to gauge public sentiment, and amend as necessary.

    Stace is right that the Legislature has time for this b.s. now because they keep the public out of the process, and no one takes it seriously, most of all the Legislators themselves. If they went back to having hearings on the resolutions, I and he might have a different opinion.

  35. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.02.08

    No resolution is more important than a bill, and no blog comment is more important than dinner out with one's spouse. Put down that phone, Stace, and pass your wife the breadsticks!

  36. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.02.08

    Hearings on resolutions—hear, hear!

  37. grudznick 2015.02.08

    There should be an initiated measure by the people with petitions and signatures to ban these meaningless resolutions.

Comments are closed.