Tom Katus, State Senator, District 32, said South Dakota’s elected officials and business leaders would gain insights to building South Dakota’s new economy based on super growth in renewable energy by forming what he calls The South Dakota Commission on Higher Pay and Economic Prosperity.

Katus said planning for economic growth, fueled by new and rapidly changing developments in renewable energy and spin-off industries, will give communities that have been by-passed by past economic development efforts a far better chance to prosper and improve household incomes.

Senator Tom Katus, District 32

He said the commission would exist until June 30, 2010, and would provide insights to the next governor administration and to legislators who need information to support an agenda which aggressively builds South Dakota’s economy in every geographic and economic region of the state.  Katus said the installation of wind energy infrastructure, bio-fuels production plants and new market opportunities, plus the possible spin-off business startups generated by a thriving renewable energy, can dramatically transform South Dakota’s economy.

“South Dakota stands to be the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy if we do our homework and plan it to gain the greatest advantage.  A new economy is coming, but we owe it to the next generation to provide well-researched insight and guidance to building our economy in all regions of South Dakota,” Katus said.  “Our objective here is to maximize our potential for prosperity and to pull South Dakota out of dead last in average salaries.  It always pays to work together, to study the problems we face and to provide the best solutions, and that’s exactly what the South Dakota Commission on Higher Pay and Economic Prosperity will do.”

Katus said the commission would seek ways to make sure farmers, ranchers, cooperatives and other local investors can get on the ground floor of developing the new energy-based economy.  Katus said failure to plan ahead will result in major corporations siphoning off profits by grabbing the initiative before local residents can organize their resources, or it could result in retarding economic growth while neighboring states outpace South Dakota.

“South Dakota stands a chance to be an energy rich state, far greater than the outstanding progress we have made so far.  If you believe in maximizing our state’s renewable energy potential in every corner of our state, this commission is the first step in the right direction for state government,” Katus said.

The commission concept was based on legislation created in 1997 by former Rep. Pat Haley, D-Huron.  That version of the bill was killed along party lines and then the study was initiated by former Gov. Bill Janklow.  Katus said the report from the Janklow study was valuable in citing why certain regions of the state had sub-standard wages.  However, the study didn’t offer strong recommendations to correct the low pay scales.

“The study done in 1998 proved that Rep. Haley was on the right track to focus on several regions of our state to understand why the wage scales were so depressed,” Katus said.  “I think that in the last 10 years, things have changed dramatically.  The amazing development has been in renewable energy and all the potential that is at hand if we want it.

“Our goal with the commission is to give guidance from the local level to the state level and put this knowledge in the hands of those who want our state’s future to be exciting and highly prosperous for South Dakota communities and South Dakota residents.”

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Democratic legislative leaders today (Friday) said if bi-partisan cooperation is allowed to work in the House and Senate, South Dakota farmers and private investors will reap rewards from plans to dramatically expand the production and use of renewable energy resources produced in the state.

The leaders highlighted their agenda to dramatically grow South Dakota’s economy by making state government an ally with cooperatives and private firms to increase bio-fuels production and to make South Dakota a national leader in wind energy.

“Our objective is to motivate growth and to make sure this growth and new wealth is spread throughout the state,” Sen. Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, the Democratic Senate leader said.  “In the last 10 years, we have seen cooperatives and private companies move ahead to lead our nation in the production of bio-fuels. What we’ve learned from that experience is that we are a long way from realizing our full potential.  This legislature can provide the leadership needed to expand wealth and prosperity in rural and urban South Dakota if we plan for growth and make sure the profits stay here in our state.  The Democrats are willing to make that work and we strongly encourage our Republican colleagues to join us in this session.”

Heidepriem said he will propose a new standing committee for House and Senate members called the South Dakota Energy Development Committee.

“Its job is to deal with emerging issues involved in renewable energy development,” Heidepriem said. “The issues are changing rapidly with advancements in technology and new resources, and we need to centralize the focus on this rather than split it out to agriculture or state affairs or commerce or taxation.  If we want South Dakota to be the leader in wind and bio-fuels energy, legislators and the public will be best served by the work of this new standing committee.”

Senator Jim Peterson, D-Revillo, and Rep. Steve Street, D-Revillo, have authored bills in each chamber to promote the installation of blender pumps in South Dakota.  Peterson said the bills offer a matching fund from the state to upgrade gas pumps to offer E-85 and blends of ethanol higher than 10 percent ethanol.  Street said the matching funds program will create an incentive to make E-85 much more available throughout the state.

Representative Street, Representative Hargens, Senator Peterson, & Representative Halverson

“We don’t want to mandate; we love to innovate,” Street said.  “A blender pump incentive will help inspire and develop an E-85 corridor in South Dakota so that motorists driving through South Dakota can count on its availability from one end of the state to the other.  This will be very helpful for tourism and will be a new tool to promote South Dakota to other states.”

Peterson submitted a bill to provide incentives for the development of power facilities using renewable resources.

“This will be important to generate opportunities for local ownership of wind farms and the development of ethanol and bio-diesel blends,” Peterson said.

Representative Clayton Halverson, D-Veblen, and Sen. Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, introduced a resolution to encourage the Midwest Independent System Operators to open the energy transmission grid to wind energy generated in South Dakota.

“There is a fast growing market for energy in the eastern grids in our nation and South Dakota is virtually an untapped resource for wind energy,” Halverson said.  “MISO holds the key to unleashing South Dakota as the leader in America’s clean wind energy and we need the full support of this legislature and our governor to unlock this potential.  The economic benefits to our state at this time are unimaginable.”

Senator Frank Kloucek, D-Scotland, also hopes to spur the rapid development of wind energy with a bill to create an energy incentive payment program.  Representative Marc Feinstein, D-Sioux Falls, presented HB 1272 to create a South Dakota Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires power companies achieve set goals for producing renewable energy.

Senator Tom Katus, D-Rapid City, has two bills aimed at clean energy usage.  One bill is the establishment of programs to inspire energy conservation through programs offered by the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).  The organization creates standards for the design and construction of new and renovated buildings owned by local and state governments.

The other bill is the creation of a State Commission on Higher Pay and Economic Opportunity.  Katus said the legislation mirrors a bill introduced by Democrats in 1997 to address low pay.  However, Katus said the legislation would be very important to legislators in planning and shaping South Dakota’s new economy through innovations in renewable energy development.

“We are looking at a new economy in South Dakota if we want to embrace and control the change so that it benefits every geographic and market zone in our state.  That is exactly what the State Commission on Higher Pay and Economic Opportunity is designed to do,” Katus said.  “What works in Redfield is going to be different from what works in Hill City. But if you don’t break down the problem into its component parts and examine the problems and develop possible solutions, you can’t develop a coherent strategy to grow our entire state economy.  It’s a win-win solution because it focuses on the unique market regions of our state and finds the best solutions.”

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A panel discussion before South Dakota’s media leaders revealed why Senate Bill 189 is the only bill that fully reforms state laws so that public information is not improperly withheld from public access, Sen. Nancy Turbak Berry, D-Watertown, said.

The panel discussion was before members of the S.D. Newspapers Association, which held its annual conference in Pierre. Turbak Berry was on a panel of legislators and other experts to discuss the results of a task force assigned to review and reform South Dakota statutes governing public access to government information.

The task force agreed that reforms were needed, but divided over whether the state should require what is called a “presumption of openness,” which means that public records are always assumed to be public unless the government can prove that a particular record can legally be kept secret.

“In a free society the public is not prohibited or restrained from obtaining information on what its government is doing and keeping on the record,” Turbak Berry said. “Under a presumption of openness, government officials are prohibited from restricting access to their documents and records unless there are clearly defined legal exceptions, such as personnel records, legal advice, life endangerment and trade secrets.

Senator Turbak Berry's press conference following the panel

“When governments are allowed to go beyond this protection, there is no presumption of openness. When laws put the burden on the public’s back to prove documents should be available to full and unrestrained public access, there is no presumption of openness.  ”

Turbak Berry said other bills resulting from the task force discussion offer some improvements in South Dakota, but fall short from fully protecting the public’s right to government information.

“An inescapable truth that came out of those task force meetings is that our state laws fail to protect the public’s right to information,” Turbak Berry said. “The bill we are offering clearly defines what information is available and protects the public right.  It also puts the burden on government officials to provide legal proof why some information should not be made public.  Settling for less erodes our standing as a free people.”

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