Hello from Pierre, the 88th Legislative Session.

We have completed our sixth week of session and are nearing the end of the 2013 session. As we enter these last weeks of session we are working on a bipartisan economic development plan that will help to bring jobs to South Dakotans. This plan still has many moving parts but should come together quickly as we come to the close of session.

We are worried about he effects federal sequestration will have on our budget and are taking that into consideration as we have our final budget deliberations. As the economy in South Dakota is still strong, we are in a good position to add some extra money into education and health care. Although many of these dollars would be considered a one-time investment, I would like to see this money be directed towards teachers bonuses and payment to our community health providers.

The needs based scholarship program I've been working on is still in progress as we deliberate how many dollars we have left to spend. When there are a few extra dollars around there are always plenty of good ideas on how to spend that money.

Thank you to all of you that have contacted me and please feel free to email me with your interests.

I look forward to talking with you.