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in the laws being passed. I have testified in numerous committees and on the Senate floor concerning education, agriculture, and other bills. I have been very impressed with the process and the people that are involved in our state government. I am honored and humbled to serve District Two in the Senate. I have enjoyed working with the other legislators from District Two as well. We have worked well together to represent the great people of Brown, Clark, Hamlin, and Spink Counties. We will soon enter into the interim period between sessions and I look forward to that time as a chance to get to know my constituents better and to gather information about the needs of the area that I serve. Please keep me informed of your concerns and of any events in your area that I might attend. I would love to visit with you.
• As we started the session we talked about my three main priorities. The first one was to provide increased aid to our schools so we can keep qualified teachers in the classrooms and to provide the materials they need. This will help to keep our rural communities strong and will also provide us with a qualified work force for economic growth. Secondly I talked about the need to take the federal money and expand Medicaid. This will enable us to help those individuals in need and will also provide money for our local hospitals, nursing homes, and the people that work in health care. This, too, will help to stimulate the local economy and will be a tool to fuel economic growth. The third key ingredient was an economic growth plan. I am happy to report that the leadership teams of both parties are working together to bring to us "Building South Dakota". It is still a work in progress but I am told we are close. It has grown out of the defeat of the Governor's economic development plan in this past election in the form of Referred Law 14. "Building South Dakota" has some of those ideas in it but it takes out the things that our voters did not like (Continued on page 5)
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