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to serving the needs of individuals who are blind or visually impaired.  Over the years, technological advances have dramatically improved the opportunities available to deaf and hard of hearing persons.  Unfortunately, advances in the technology available to those who are blind/vision-impaired have not yielded the same results.  This bill would loosen the restraints on how the dollars are used, in that it would allow for the purchase/distribution of cell phones, iPads, laptops, etc.  However, it does not change the 90/10 share of the funds, which seems to be more appropriate.  I had heard from a few folks late in the process who brought up the issue of changing the proportions, and I thought they made compelling arguments.  I was one of the eight votes against the bill, and I am hopeful that the bill will be amended on the Senate side.
• Finally, the House passed SB 64, by a vote of 63-3.  This bill would require the SD Board of Education to publicize notice and hold four public meetings over the course of a six-month period, should they seek to adopt any other content standards that stem from multistate consortiums (i.e.--the Common Core State Standards).  This bill is one of the CCSS bills that finds broad-based support.  SB 63 is another bill dealing with the issue.  That bill will be heard by the full body of the House this week, and I will write about it next week.
• Take care, and may God bless you!