by Karl Kurtz
Oops, we missed another adjournment last week. The South Dakota Legislature adjourned on March 6 after being marooned at the capitol in Pierre by a snowstorm over the previous weekend. They will return for a veto session on March 26. The wrapup story in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader focuses mostly on the budget bill, which included a 5.4 percent increase over spending in the current fiscal year. The legislature also approved a reduction in property taxes, using an offset from tobacco money to fund it.
I liked this quote from a legislator who serves on the joint appropriations committee, which meets every morning during session and far more than any other committee:
Democrat Sen. Julie Bartling of Burke told other senators that a lobbyist saw her entering the Capitol early one morning for an appropriations meeting and remarked that she was on her way to the Bat cave.
It's like that, being an appropriations member, Bartling mused. “You go to the Bat cave and after 39 days, you come out a hero.''
I'll add the bat cave to my list of metaphors for the legislative process--a topic for a future blog posting.
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