Legislative Update with Jay Kruse

Some amazing weather made visiting the SD State Capitol much more enjoyable for our advocacy group last week! Plus, an update on our SD Bill Tracking. 

Good Morning!
 
It was great seeing many of you and spending the day together in Pierre last week for our annual South Dakota Credit Union Legislative Day and Social. Our attendees were blessed with some amazing weather while in the capitol city, which made shuffling between the Ramkota and the State Capitol for our meetings much more enjoyable.
 
We did post a recap of the event last week here, but if you missed it, we welcomed over 30 credit union attendees from
​14 different South Dakota credit unions, along with 54 legislators and guests that officially checked into our Legislative Social that capped off the day’s events. I say “officially” checked in because many more legislators and state department representatives than those counted steadily trickled in and out over the course of the evening through the side entrances. With several receptions all taking place at the same time in the Ramkota, legislators were able to meet with multiple different groups in the same building by just moving from one room to the next. Our legislator gift this year was a small cutting board inscribed with a “Credit Union Financial Well-Being for All” message and was a big hit with all attending legislators.
 
Overall, I consider the day and our social a great success, and I wanted to thank all that continue to support this very important annual event. I couldn’t do what I do without the support and leadership of our member credit unions, and I appreciate all the extra work you put in to support our grassroots advocacy efforts here in the Dakotas!
 
SD Bill Tracking
 
This week is the final week for the introduction of bills. The number of bills in the online system continue to increase at a very steady pace. As of this morning, 305 bill have been introduced in the House and 195 in the Senate. Financial services related legislation has not been a focus during this year’s session. While our bill tracking list continues to slowly expand, we are tracking fewer bills this year than we have over the past few sessions.
 
You can continue to keep an eye on our bill tracking list here: dakcu.org/bill-tracking.html.
 
The SD Government Affairs Committee has taken a position on bill HB 1061: an act to codify an advisory committee for the appraisal certification program. I testified in support of the legislation in the House Commerce and Energy Committee where it passed 13-0. Yesterday, the bill received a vote on the House floor and pass on a final tally of 60-4. The bill will now move on to the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee in the coming weeks, where we do plan to again testify in support of the legislation to help see it through to the finish line!
 
As always, if you have any advocacy questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at any time!

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