Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me as a person and as a senator. I believe that my job as a state senator is to serve the people, and to be available to help them. I have been able to help many folks in my district and around the state with information, support, and real changes in their lives concerning Medicaid, social security, roads, flood plain issues, water, regulations on businesses, workers comp issues, and child custody issues. I am always happy to respond to an e-mail or a call, and have my contact information available to everyone.

As I go door to door in my campaign, I am interested in hearing what my constituents think about state government issues. Economy, education, and health care costs are usually at the top of the list. These three are tied together. I believe education is the foundation for any society and without a good to great education system, our economy and businesses will struggle. Also, without easy access to health care, we often don't address disease until it is late stage, and very expensive to treat. I believe prevention should be a primary focus of health care officials. I have brought a program to help families fight childhood obesity to the Sioux Falls Schools which will be piloted this year. I believe health care insurance should be provided for everyone in our state in a manner that is affordable for all. Nothing is more important than our health, and families should not have to gamble about not having insurance because of the cost.

We don't need to increase our state taxes in any area. In fact, I have a plan to eliminate the tax on food, which is very unfair and difficult for anyone on a fixed or low income. We need to revamp our tax system to be both fair and more efficient without raising anyone's taxes. Our state is holding over $1 billion of our money in reserves, and putting much of the interest on that money back into the principal every year. The state also has a revolving checking account of over $800,000 million, and other funds such as the Great Plains Education Fund and the Governor's fund. We need to have access to more of that money for education, renewable energy incentives, and improving health care. We also need to have open government so the people can see how their money is being spent. Let's work together to make South Dakota great for everyone!