It is official, Governor Larry Rhoden is South Dakota’s 34th Governor, with a private swearing in ceremony taking place this past Tuesday in the state capital building. A few days later, the announcement was made that Tony Venhuizen will now be South Dakota’s 40th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota. Tony served in the state House of Representatives from District 13 since 2023 until his resignation this week. While in the Legislature, Tony served as the Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Both Governor Rhoden and Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen understand the legislative process and will be great problem solvers for the people of South Dakota. Specifically, to healthcare, both understand SDAHO’s mission and the many complex issues that impact the healthcare community. The SDAHO advocacy team will continue to work with lawmakers and our new administration on behalf of our members.
We continue to watch the bill count, with 320 pieces of legislation filed so far. Of those, SDAHO is actively following 46 bills.
On the policy side, here is an update to the bills we brought you last week that have had some movement:
- HB 1043 – requires counties and municipalities to provide emergency medical services within their jurisdictions, increase liquidated court costs, and create the emergency medical services fund and make appropriation therefor. The measure was heard in House Local Government on Tuesday January 28 and deferred to the 41st day 8-5
- HB 1047 – make an appropriation to reimburse health care professionals who have complied with the requirements for rural recruitment assistance programs, and to declare an emergency. The measure was heard on Thursday January 30 in the Joint Committee on Appropriates. An amended version passed the committee unanimously 17-0
The SDAHO Advocacy team will be in Pierre for the entire run of the 2025 legislative session. To stay connected with healthcare-related legislation, follow our Bill Tracker here.
You can also visit our our State Advocacy webpage here.
