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• The measure's critics say existing regulations are reasonable and necessary for public safety. The secretaries of the state's health and agriculture departments oppose the bill.
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Advocate hopes to alter reservation heating method
• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- American Indian advocate Chase Iron Eyes is launching a program to try to find an alternative to propane-heated homes on the Standing Rock Reservation, where the nationwide propane shortage is hitting particularly hard.
• A fundraising program dubbed "Heating the Rez" is being coordinated through www.indiegogo.com . Iron Eyes says the initial goal is to raise $50,000 to fund a pilot project to outfit 20 homes with heat stoves that burn pellets made from natural materials such as wood, cherry pits and grasses.
• As many as 5,000 homes on the Dakotas reservation are heated by propane, which many there can no longer afford because of a spike in prices.
• Iron Eyes says he hopes a long-term solution is for people on the reservation to grow, produce and manufacture their own heating sources.
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SD panel approves bill to stabilize state bank tax
CHET BROKAW, Associated Press
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Gov. Dennis Daugaard's plan to stabilize the state's income from the bank tax at $8 million to $10 million annually was sent Friday to the full House for consideration.
• The House's State Affairs Committee unanimously approved the measure, which will help protect state revenue from the bank franchise tax by taking into account changes in the way large banks provide services from locations in many states, state Revenue Secretary Andy Gerlach said.
• Without the change, the state's bank tax revenue could fall to about $4 million a year, he said.
• The bank franchise tax is based on the portion of a bank's property, payroll and receipts attributable to South Dakota. However, the current formula does not take into account modern practices by large banks because different parts of a transaction often occur in different states, Gerlach said. The bill would calculate South Dakota's share of bank receipts on where a customer is located, rather than where the bank activity takes place.
• "As the tax administrator for the state, I will say it's good policy," Gerlach said. "It (Continued on page 31)
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