As I mentioned last week, your Appropriations Committee heard the revenue projections and chose a revenue target for the remainder of fiscal year 2019 which ends June 30, 2019; and fiscal year 2020 which begins July 1, 2019.
Those numbers reflected a conservative optimism for continued growth in the next two years and did not take into consideration any of the internet sales tax collections that began on Nov. 1, 2018.
March 1, will open the door to the marketplace, the second stage of the rollout of internet sales tax collections introduced in the special session held last September.
We have no history to judge these collections by, and we are working on the best indicators to make sure the sales tax rate will be reduced as collections replace those dollars and roll back the rate until we reach the original 4.0 percent state sales tax rate, while still funding the promises made for teacher pay in 2016.
Other bills we will consider this week are SB 122, a bill to remove the authority from the Board of Regents and Board of Technical Education to regulate firearms. SB 145 deals with abandoned vehicle titles, and we’ll also be looking into the lighting system regulations for wind energy development with SB 64.
I am the Senate prime sponsor of a House adult adoption bill, HB 1067, which will allow adoption of young adults up to age 21. This is an issue direct from our district, and we have compelling testimony to deliver.
This measure, headed up in the House by our Reps. Deutsch and Mills, passed by a vote of 57-8, so the momentum is on our side to see positive change. This is what we refer to as a constituent bill, a chance to provide an opportunity for immediate change in someone from our district, and I’m proud to be a part of this bill.
HB 1067 goes before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday morning.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you in the South Dakota Senate. You can reach me directly at wiikfor4@gmail.com, you can listen live to committees and floor debate at sd.net and track all bills at sdlegislature.gov.
