Tag Archives: state government

Heidepriem: It’s a dead heat

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After seeing so many polls showing Scott Heidepriem so far behind in the governor’s race, I’m naturally skeptical of this. But here it is, from a Heidepriem news release issued last night:

Heidepriem – Daugaard

In Statistical Dead Heat In

Independent Poll: 43 – 41

Sioux Falls – A new independent poll completed Thursday evening shows that in the South Dakota gubernatorial race Democrat Scott Heidepriem has pulled into a statistical dead heat against Republican Dennis Daugaard .

The three day track poll conducted by NB Polling, shows that Heidepriem has pulled to within 41-43 percent with 15 percent still undecided.   The two point margin is within the statistical margin of error meaning the race is a statistical dead heat.

The poll mirrors internal polls conducted by the Heidepriem campaign which have shown Heidepriem closing rapidly by converting undecided voters to his camp as well as peeling off “soft” Daugaard supporters.  It also comes on the heels of an overwhelming performance by Heidepriem in a statewide television debate Monday in which Heidepriem blistered Daugaard who comes across as unsure and uncomfortable in these joint appearances while Heidepriem scores big points with his vision, consistency and command of the issues.

“We are clearly peaking at the right time.  As people see our message, as people see the dramatic difference between Scott and our opponent and while people tire of the same old politics of entitlement in Pierre, they are moving into Scott’s column.  We are converting thousands of previously undecided voters to our camp while we continue to peel thousands of voters away from Mr. Daugaard.  We are positioning ourselves for a major upset on Tuesday,” Heidepriem campaign manager Steve Jarding said.

“It is very unfortunate that two major news organizations published poll numbers from a week old poll earlier in the week.  The numbers were old and wrong and they confused voters.  We cannot help that poor decision, but we are delighted that this new independent poll mirrors our own internal polling numbers,” Jarding said.

A proper role for the secretary of state?

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Platte legislator Tom Deadrick has announced that he will run next year for secretary of state. Generally, the holder of that office is in charge of elections, campaign-finance reporting and business registration. People elected to the office have typically performed their duties as quietly as possible, the recent flap over ballot-issue campaign donations notwithstanding.

Deadrick has a different vision for the office. As we reported today, he wants to make South Dakota a Midwest center for corporate registration similar to the state of Delaware.

Corporate registrations mean “hundreds of millions of dollars for Delaware, but if we could get a part of that business it would be millions of dollars for South Dakota,” he said.

The actual powers of the secretary of state are spelled out in a section of the state constitution, which you can peruse by clicking here.

What do you think about Deadrick’s idea? Is that kind of project an appropriate one for the secretary of state to undertake, or is it better left to legislators and the governor to instigate such a policy?

Heidepriem releases big package of reform proposals

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Scott Heidepriem presents his new package of campaign proposals Thursday at The Daily Republic. (Photo by Seth Tupper)

Scott Heidepriem, who came to The Daily Republic for an interview today, just released a big package of proposals aimed at reforming state government and closing the state’s estimated $170 million budget gap.

Many of his proposals were foreshadowed in a Q&A with Heidepriem that we published last week.

Here’s the news release from the Heidepriem campaign:

Heidepriem Unveils Sweeping Reforms To Pull State Out of Debt, Bring Fiscal Accountability and Openness to State

Plan Calls for Capping State Spending; Across the Board Cuts; Reduction in State Employees; Elimination of No- Bid Contracts; A Litany of Cuts; Consolidation of Departments

Sioux Falls – State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Scott Heidepriem today unveiled a comprehensive and sweeping state government reform package that calls for an unprecedented new era of fiscal accountability and openness in state government.

Heidepriem indicated that the litany of reforms is long overdue and absolutely necessary to bring South Dakota’s fiscal house in order due to a projected state government shortfall of at least $174 million, and because in seven of the past eight years South Dakota’s state government spent more than it collected while its’ budget increased a staggering 5.5 percent a year for the past eight years. The Senate Leader said his plan can and will be done without raising taxes.

The reforms include:

  • Capping state spending at 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, something Heidepriem has long pushed for in Pierre. Heidepriem contends that South Dakota cannot sustain its current average growth of 5.5 percent over the past eight years.
  • The implementation of across the board cuts in every agency and department of state government. The extent of the cuts will be predicated on the depth of the financial hole the state faces.
  • Cutting state full-time employee growth dramatically to levels South Dakota had prior to the RoundsDaugaard Administration. Heidepriem notes that the current Administration has added approximately 1,500 new state employees during the eight years of the RoundsDaugaard Administration even though the state’s population has remained relatively static.
  • Create smaller state government with the consolidation of State Departments particularly combining the offices of State Treasurer and the Commissioner of School and Public Lands. Heidepriem contends that it may have made sense in 1889, the year South Dakota became a state, to have two separate offices for these functions but with modern technology, the functions of the two offices can easily be consolidated.
  • Eliminate the practice of the State granting millions of dollars in “no-bid” contracts which stifle competition and create a culture of cronyism in which State contracts too often are awarded to political friends potentially at inflated amounts of state tax dollars.
  • End the practice of “Pay to Play” in which South Dakota’s top political appointments turn around and contribute significant campaign funds to South Dakota’s Governor and Lt. Governor.
  • Undertake a complete audit of State Government with the goal of eliminating frivolous and unneeded State spending. As a couple of examples of this wasteful spending, Heidepriem notes that the state does not need 10 airplanes and he intends to sell all but the absolute essential planes. He also will eliminate the $200,000 a year federal lobbyists – a position Heidepriem considers “already filled” by South Dakota’s Congressional Delegation of Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune and Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.
  • Eliminate the controversial and secret “Governor’s Fund” which is nothing more than a hushed political slush fund that opens the door to undue influence over the Governor with no public accountability.
  • Implement Regulatory Authority Reform making it illegal for departments like the Public Utilities Commission to raise funds from the very companies they regulate in order to finance PUC conventions and workshops.

“These reforms are extensive and long overdue. They will put South Dakota’s economy on a strong footing and will restore confidence with the people of South Dakota that their government is fiscally sound and responsible while it is more open and honest in the way it does business,” Heidepriem said.

Back to the teat for state government?

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I posted recently about the way it seems that our state and federal government leaders can think of no solution to tough economic times other than taxing, borrowing and spending.

Another example of that surfaced in a news story today about the state’s worsening budget situation. Following his Monday meeting with the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations, state Finance Commissioner Jason Dilges was asked how the state will cover what’s expected to be a $200 million budget shortfall next year.

"My sense is we’re going to have to use a big chunk of the stimulus," Dilges was quoted as answering.

I realize that the stimulus money is there for the taking, and it might be foolish not to grab it. But I also wonder if our state government could put itself in a much better position long-term by taking its medicine now and drastically cutting the state budget instead of relying on the stimulus as a savior. It would result in significant short-term pain, but wouldn’t it put us back on sound financial footing and position us for a much brighter future?

That’s not likely to happen any time soon, though, because significant budget cuts would require an admission that the state is spending too much. Our elected leaders don’t seem ready to admit that they’re overspending. They still seem convinced that the economy is going to rebound, sales taxes are going to start climbing by leaps and bounds, and everything will be rosy again.

Maybe they’re right (according to one recent Associated Press story, they’re not). If they’re not right, I see only two solutions: an endless supply of federal dollars to bail us out, or significant budget cuts. And if you think the federal money is going to last, I suggest you click here to read about the feds’ current budget situation.