Bob Mercer reports that the party caucuses have chosen the nine Senators who get to investigate the allegation that Senate President Pro-Tem Brock Greenfield and Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer were boozing it up on the job during the last day of the 2020 Session:
The five Republicans selected Tuesday night are Jim Bolin of Canton, Art Rusch of Vermillion, Jim Stalzer of Sioux Falls, Margaret Sutton of Sioux Falls and Jim White of Huron.
The four Democrats are Susan Wismer of Britton, Red Dawn Foster of Pine Ridge, Craig Kennedy of Yankton and caucus leader Troy Heinert of Mission.
It’s not often that we get to see a Legislative committee with near parity of Republicans and Democrats. Per the Executive Board motion approved April 2, this bipartisan team must report its findings by June 30, 2020.
Wow. A real nail-biter, this one. A bunch of people who know very little investigating a couple of people who will deny everything to come to a conclusion about something almost no one cares about and which will result in nothing.
The most that can be said about this is that it is a fitting allegory for the entire 2020 legislative session.
My good friend Bob is righter than right. Half of that panel was probably sipping rum out of paper bags that dark night. And the pee tests the two suspects took have probably been tampered with by operatives.
That’s first rate sarcasm Bob. Well done.
I, for one, am shocked that there was drinking involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
It is fairly easy to make light of this matter as many have done and will inevitably continue to do. The fact is that the behavior – I mean “alleged” behavior – of 2 or 3 leaders is far from typical of our Legislature. I know, it’s easy to stereotype fat-cat drunks living it up while on the public payroll, but that’s not the truth. If there was late-night tippsyness in our Capitol, that is far from the norm. Unfortunately, this incident (alleged incident, I mean) casts all of the good public servants who do the people’s work in an unfavorable light. That is why it is imperative to ensure that the Special Committee assigned the important task of investigating this matter determine as quickly and definitively as possible what happened that night. I trust that Sen Bolin and his associates will faithfully execute their duties – as all (or nearly all) legislators always (or almost always) do.
I have a different perspective from Curt’s. You don’t get such bad legislation year after year without something being wrong, but I don’t think a snort or two from a brown paper bag is the problem in Pierre.
“Executing duties” and doing what’s smart and what’s right are two different things. If they wanted to do their duty they would fix legislative arrogance. That’s a far bigger problem. What I’ve seen from five hundred miles to the east is that Sen. Bolin is an arrogant know-it-all who hates it when people initiate laws. He tries as hard as he can whenever he can to neuter the South Dakota Constitution on that score. If Bolin isn’t sloppy drunk while he is legislating, maybe that’s the problem.
I don’t know much about Kris Langer or Brock Greenfield. I’m sure I disagree with them on a lot policy, but I do recall the Greenfield’s opposed the borehole project that was slated for their neck of the woods a few years ago. If it takes a snort or two for legislators to get that kind of commonsense, I’ll drink to that.
Seriously, I don’t like when people are accused without any evidence. If they don’t have a blood test, they have nothing. A few people’s anecdotal opinions are all they have, and we all know what opinions are like, don’t we?
Wow!! Bipartisan behavior. Too bad this never happens during a legislative session.
Donal Pay,
Bingo on Bolin. The guy is a dolt.
I would hardly quantify anyone involved in this silliness as “fat cats.” Most of these folks need the eight grand legislative pay to make ends meet.
I do, however, agree heartily with Don Pay. I actually wish they’d drink more and propose far fewer laws.
I’d love for all of them to stay home a drink… and let real civil servants keenly interested in public policy handle lawmaking.