Ethan Marsland is the first declared candidate for District 33 House. He sat down with Dakota Free Press Friday to discuss how he would serve his District 33 neighbors:
The fiscal highlight: Marsland thinks the state’s current tax system is unsustainable (that sounds familiar!) and that, without changes, the state will have to resort to an income tax to balance the budgets. Marsland isn’t cheering for a state income tax (although Rick Knobe and I wouldn’t mind if he did!). He would prefer that we focus on reforming property tax first, taking back the handouts to big corporations and easing the burden on small local businesses.
Marsland also wants term limits for the Legislature: four terms in the House, four terms in the Senate, and you’re done. I’d prefer the only limit on legislators’ terms be the preferences of the voters in each election, but Marsland will find supporters for his term-limits proposal among voters from all parties.
Marsland would like to see 75% of the current Legislature turn over to new representatives in the 2016 election. Yet he doesn’t come out as a fire-breathing partisan seeking to replace every Republican with a Democrat. He says he’d be happy just to see more moderate Republicans replace extremists like his own District 33 Senator Phil Jensen and put an end to the distractions caused by those extremists’ “ridiculous escapades.”
District 33 encompasses Black Hawk, Summerset, and the Highway 44 corridor west of Rapid City out past Pactola. Its current Representatives are Rep. Rev. Scott Craig and Rep. Jacqueline Sly. Rep. Sly is in her fourth term in the House and cannot run for re-election to that seat in 2016. Rep. Rev. Craig is in his second term.
The will of the people is thwarted by politicians who are kept in place by the moderate establishment Republican political machine. Term limits are absolutely needed to put the power back into the hands of the public and not the machine and lobbyists who keep them in power.
If Marsden doesn’t gotten another D to run? He might as well phone it in.
Sly has already sent a shot across the bow of Jensen and given indication she wants the district’s senate seat. Expect the full Daugaard machine to gear up for her.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t find a party designation. Intentional? I’m assuming Marsland is a Democrat because you mentioned he doesn’t want to replace all the Republicans with Democrats.
You’re right Cory. He doesn’t advocate anything even in the neighborhood of extreme. His positions sound like basic South Dakotan positions. They could just as easily come from a reasonable and moderate Republican. (I know there are some in SD.) Marsland apparently pays attention to what the legislature has been up to. Good for him and I wish him the best of luck.
PKM needs some of your perspective over yonder,Ms Deb.
Perhaps Mike, but I do enjoy his creative rants and wouldn’t want to change a thing. I often need his irreverent entertainment. Yours too.
Mike, you’ll notice a complete lack of calm perspective in my comments on the following post. Sometimes a little rage feels justified.
I meant the K Davis post for PKM over yonder. But,you done a bang up job on them there rwnj in Carolina and elsewhere. Rubymay likes it,too. :)
Deb, yes, Marsland is a Democrat. He’s working with the College Dems.
I found it EPO. It was the one about the ad with the gun toting i-dot. Thank you. I don’t often check after the first day of the post.
(We probably could have taken this private, but then we wouldn’t have added to Cory’s comment numbers.)
Re gerrymandered dist. 33
in North Carolina in February, a three-judge panel threw out the state’s congressional map after ruling the 1st and 12th districts were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. Republican legislators responded by drawing a controversial new district plan that they openly acknowledged is a partisan gerrymander. “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats,” said state Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), one member of the mapdrawing committee. “So I drew this map in a way to help foster what I think is better for the country.” brennan justice center newsletter today
go ethan!!