In further failures this month, Senator Al Novstrup (R-3/Aberdeen) failed again to rewrite municipal campground law to benefit his own business.
As I reported last month, Senator Novstrup filed Senate Bill 157, a repeat of his 2022 attempt to allow Aberdeen to expand its Wylie Park campaground without having to receive approval of competing private campgrounds. Novstrup’s go-kart park, Thunder Road, enjoys an exclusive contract to entertain campers and visitors at Wylie Park, so any expansion of Wylie Park boosts Novstrup’s business.
Novstrup got the Municipal League to testify in favor of his bill before Senate Commerce and Energy on February 2, and he brought his Republican crony Aberdeen mayor Travis Schaunaman to advocate for this self-serving socialism (is there any Republican in Brown County who believes in honest capitalism and not using government for personal profit?).
But private campground owners balked, and lobbyist Justin Smith testified for the South Dakota Visitor Industry Alliance to kill another bad Novstrup bill. Nobody stuck with Al on this error: Senate Commerce and Energy killed SB 157 on a 9–0 vote.
He spent too much of his time and energy researching Swedish transgender studies.
Well-deserved defeat it was.
Cory wins again!!!
Well, I lived in a trailer court just past Wylie Park. How did this guy get control over a volunteer built amusement park for his own profit? Did he take over Storyland?