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SD governor calls for revamping bank tax laws
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Gov. Dennis Daugaard says South Dakota needs to revamp its bank franchise tax to reflect the complexity of modern banking operations.
• In his State of the State speech to kick off the 2014 session of the South Dakota Legislature, Daugaard says the laws need to be changed to calculate taxes paid by nine large banks that do business on a national or international level. He says the changes won't change the tax paid by community banks.
• He says changes that apply to larger interstate banks are needed to maintain South Dakota's tax revenues, but not to increase those tax collections.
• The governor also South Dakota's laws governing the regulation of insurance companies should be updated to improve protection of consumers.
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Noem criticizes Democrats' leadership on economy
HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Kristi Noem on Tuesday criticized the Democrats' handling of the economy, saying South Dakota's low unemployment rate is proof that her Republican Party is a better steward of the nation's finances.
• The South Dakota Republican joined House Speaker John Boehner and other members of House Republican leadership at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday in which they took aim at President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders. The event was set to highlight Republican jobs initiatives in Congress and to discuss the national job report for December, which was released last week.
• "South Dakota right now has an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. ... We're one of the fastest- growing states in the country," Noem said. "And we have a Republican governor.
• Noem said she was disappointed by the job report, which showed the unemployment rate had dropped to 6.7 percent but that the economy had created only 74,000 jobs. She said that was proof that Democrats were not doing enough to spur economic growth.
• "We have 5 million people in this country that are unemployed, 3.7 million that have been unemployed for over six months," Noem said. "I'd like all of you to take a few minutes today and just think about how you would deal with losing your job for six months, how you would pay your bills, how you'd feed your family, how you'd plan for your future."
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