Watertown legislators sound off on various state topics (Audio)

January 20, 2020
Mike Tanner

WATERTOWN, S.D.—South Dakota lawmakers get back to work tomorrow (Tuesday) after enjoying an extended weekend off due to the Martin Luther King Junior holiday.

Representative Hugh Bartels of Watertown is the prime sponsor of a bill that would eliminate the word “Institute” from South Dakota’s four technical schools, and replace it with the word, “college”…..

Bartels says there’s plenty of support out there for this name change, but it’s not unanimous….

Representative Nancy York of Watertown sat on a summer study committee last year that looked at the hemp issue. She’s still opposed to allowing it to be grown in South Dakota….

And she says if you legalize hemp, you’ve got to pay for the enforcement that’ll go with it…

Governor Noem has recommended no increase in K-12 school funding in her budget proposal, but Senator Lee Schoenbeck says there should be an increase, even if it means dipping into reserves to pay for it…

Governor Noem says if there are any extra dollars left this session, they should be put toward education, care providers and state employee salaries.