Friday,  Jan. 17, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 185 • 2 of 32

From The State Legislature
By Senator Chuck Welke

• I am proud to represent District 2 in the SD State Senate.  Our District is made up of Brown, Clark, Hamlin, and Spink Counties.   I send greetings from Pierre and the start of the 89th Session of the SD Legislature. 
• I work to represent what I believe to be our common values of fairness, equality, and opportunity for all.  As we progress, we must work to advance all of our citizens and especially invest in the future of our state - our children.
• The Governor's State of the State highlighted many of SD's positive trends.  SD ranks high in the percentage of children vaccinated, the number of citizens getting a flu shot, the over-all number of our citizens employed, and recent media reports

Senator
Chuck Welke

select our state as a great place to retire.  We continue to be concerned about some of the facts which were not mentioned in the speech.  SD continues to have pockets of very high unemployment and across the state low wages keep many of our citizens hovering near the poverty line despite working full time. 
• An estimated 48,000 South Dakotans could benefit from the expansion of Medicaid, and we hope that this session will see us joining the majority of states in making this important decision.  Under current law, a working adult qualifies for Medicaid if they earn less than 52% of the poverty line. That's $6,756 for a single person or $10,620 for family of four.  Those 48,000 South Dakotan making more than the cut-off amount are most often in jobs without employer provided health insurance.  Medicaid expansion would inject over $300 million a year into the South Dakota

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