Rep. Wiik Struggles to Inform Constituents

Rep. John Wiik (R-4/Big Stone City) shows us how not to write a weekly legislative update. His latest blog post tells his constituents almost nothing substantive about the work he claims to be doing in Pierre.

Rep. Wiik starts by telling his constituents that things sure are busy in Pierre. Drinking from the fire hose, ramping up, heavy lifting… “we work very had to make sure everyone is heard.” (We apparently don’t work very hard at proofreading.)

But while assuring us that the un-overstatably important committees are shining, Rep. Wiik doesn’t name one specific bill on which the committees have shone. He only mentions one bill that he thinks is coming up this week:

This week, the House Commerce and Energy Committee will hear some very contentious and long-winded bills.  (We call those “talkers”)  I’d be willing to guess that HB 1067 will fill up one entire two hour committee hearing, while our same committee handled 5 bills in under an hour on Wednesday.  It all boils down to the process.  The process is what keeps year to year politics or personalities from closing down your ability to have your voice directly heard, and we look forward to hearing it.

In case you’re curious, HB 1067 is the medical insurance bill that is seen as potentially interfering with the 2014 Initiated Measure 17, the patient choice medical insurance measure.  That will be an impassioned hearing, and there will be many stories to hear, and then our committee will determine the correct determination of the bill based on the testimony [Rep. John Wiik, “Well, That Escalated Quickly,” wiikfor4, 2016.01.25].

Look at everything Rep. Wiik doesn’t offer in that passage:

• a link to the bill (this is the Internet—links are not just easy; they’re obligatory!);
• an explanation of HB 1067 and of Initiated Measure 17 (but perhaps Wiik assumes all of his constituents read my blog, where I explained each measure last week in two sentences);
• a clear statement of where he stands on the bill, yea, nay, or open to persuasion.

The only noteworthy line is the last one, in which Wiik channels Colonel Henry Blake with his determination to determine the correct determination.

District 4, you picked this guy over Kathy Tyler, who could actually explain Initiated Measure 17 and articulate positions on policy with statistics? Wow—maybe you should look for an opportunity to rectify that error this November and elect a Representative who can give you real information about what’s happening in Pierre.