• We've now completed the seventh week of work in Pierre.   We passed "cross-over" on Feb. 25th, and now will focus on Senate Bills, just as the Senate will take up the bills which have passed the House. When bills are passed by the other body, but with changes that may not be accepted by the other legislative body, they must end up in a conference committee to iron out the differences.
• The last couple weeks of each Session have a lot of moving parts as the Appropriations Committee gets the final revenue numbers, adjusts the budget accordingly, and figures in the cost of any

new legislation which passes which impacts the General Fund.
• One bill I supported was HB 1208 which may be seen as a compromise on the difficult subject of landowner's rights and meandering waters.  HB 1208 states that no person may fire a firearm from a watercraft or vehicle on public waters, frozen or unfrozen.  As in current law, on private property you must be 660 feet from dwellings, churches, schoolhouses, or livestock. The only exceptions would be if you obtained permission from the owner. HB 1208 will reinforce the idea that landowners have rights, even on meandering waters.

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