President Trump decided to exclude Democratic governors from a traditional annual meeting at the White House and to disinvite several others from a black-tie dinner, according to the White House, the governors and the National Governors Association. Via @statesnewsroom.com

A pair of bills aimed at strengthening emergency medical services in South Dakota have earned Gov. Larry Rhoden’s approval. One clarifies liability for nurses serving in ambulances, and the other expands the legal definition of ambulance drivers.

Dan Ahlers, the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, said he plans to run for governor.

South Dakota #prison officials have quietly stood up a program they view as a win for some inmates and their families: Since 2022, qualifying inmate mothers have lived full-time with their children in a house on the campus of the Women’s Prison in Pierre.

"I've been sick these last few days, because I did forget to take one specific drug that I bring here every year that I've been in the Legislature. And that is #ivermectin." That comment kicks off the latest episode of 🎧️Searchlight Report, which reviews a lively legislative week. buff.ly/apDlFTN

COMMENTARY: A South Dakota lawmaker was right to think America’s Founding Fathers would be “rolling over in their grave” because the state’s legislators recently debated whether to pass a formal resolution urging South Dakotans to invoke God. But he was wrong about why he was right.

Legislation dealing with lab-grown and direct-to-consumer meat is dividing South Dakota ranchers. “If you have two ranchers, you've got four different opinions," one lawmaker said. Both bills await action by Gov. Larry Rhoden, who's a rancher himself.

A bill to require high school coaches to report abuse and neglect earned the full support of a South Dakota House of Representatives panel.

In a flurry of decisions, SD legislative committees said yes to keeping the sales tax at 4.2%, no to letting it increase and capturing the revenue for property tax relief, and yes to letting voters decide on mobile sports betting and using that for property tax relief.

New episode of the Searchlight Report podcast: The fate of SD legislation dealing with alternative COVID-19 treatments, a tax break for data centers, guns at colleges and schools, and lab-grown meat. Also, Republicans suspend one of their own for remarks about Democrats and God. buff.ly/apDlFTN

A bill criminalizing fertility fraud that was inspired by a Netflix documentary is on its way to the South Dakota House of Representatives. The 2022 movie is about Donald Cline, of Indianapolis, who secretly used his own sperm to father more than 90 children in the 1970s and 1980s.

A White House spokesperson told States Newsroom around noon that a “staffer erroneously made the post” that was shared on President Donald Trump’s social media platform late Thursday night. Members of both political parties called the post racist before its removal on Friday.

State and local election officials are bracing for the prospect of federal action after President Donald Trump’s call to “nationalize” #elections. “I don’t think we can put anything past this administration,” one secretary of state told @stateline.org.

A lawmaker said she takes #ivermectin during each legislative session but forgot it at home and has been sick without it. She ended up on the losing side of a debate about liability shields for doctors and pharmacists who prescribe or dispense drugs used off-label for COVID.

A proposal to require local elections when a school board decides to exceed property tax limitations failed in the South Dakota House on a 29-39 vote, and an effort to reconsider the bill fizzled.

The divide in South Dakota’s Republican Party over the government’s role in #EconomicDevelopment spilled into public view as two of the party’s top leaders argued in front of reporters. More about that exchange:

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted to support changing a nominating petition deadline for state and local election candidates, in response to a law passed last year that required local elections on the same day as primary and general elections.

South Dakota lawmakers have rejected one bill to increase penalties for disrupting worshippers and advanced another. The sponsor of the successful bill referenced the freedoms of religion and speech and said “this is to address when those things clash.”

Health care providers would be able to refuse patients treatment due to conscience-based objections under a bill South Dakota lawmakers endorsed today. Opponents say the bill is overly broad and would lead to legal challenges, strain rural facilities and erode care for patients.

As Americans grow increasingly frustrated over their electricity bills, states are trying to keep the nation’s growing number of #DataCenters from causing higher energy costs for consumers, reports @stateline.org.

Lawmakers in the South Dakota House of Representatives endorsed a bill barring the purchase of soft drinks with benefits from the SNAP food assistance program. “A taxpayer-funded nutrition program should promote actual nutrition,” the bill's sponsor said.

Visits to five total places in Brookings and Milbank by a Grant County man infected with #measles prompted a notice from the South Dakota Department of Health.

A state Public Integrity Unit fielded 47 complaints of state employee misconduct in its first six months of operations, resulting in 14 criminal investigations and criminal charges in four cases so far, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.

The South Dakota House Education Committee advanced a $2.5 million proposal to provide grants for a teacher retention initiative. southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/2-5-m...

Department of Justice attorneys said during a hearing in federal court that a final decision will be made by May as to what kind of death penalty charges could be pursued for the suspect accused of shooting two West Virginia #NationalGuard members in the nation’s capital.

A bill that would have created a 50-year sales tax break on equipment and software purchases for #DataCenters was stopped at the committee level in the South Dakota Legislature. Details from the hearing:

The newest member of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles is a prosecutor, former defense attorney and co-founder of a halfway house in Huron.

The momentum behind cellphone bans in schools has reached more than half the states. Now, the question for many states and school districts isn’t whether to remove distracting devices from students each day, but for how long.

Renee Good’s family, distraught and in disbelief over her killing, took some comfort in the past few weeks thinking her death might prompt change in the country, her brother Luke Ganger said. “It has not,” Ganger told congressional Democrats.

Don’t miss South Dakota Searchlight’s series, The Data Center Divide, examining the impact, barriers and concerns regarding efforts to build #DataCenters in the state. Read all four stories here:

President Trump again called for the federal government to get involved in elections on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had said earlier in the day that the President's comments were meant to signal support for a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote.

Property rights advocates in South Dakota advanced their “Bossly bill," aimed at limiting the ways developers can use #EminentDomain to enter private property when a landowner says no. The legislation is named for Jared Bossly, who alleges a pipeline company trespassed on his land.

The South Dakota House of Representatives will vote on a bill meant to bar the purchase of sweetened beverages with food stamps. Supporters say sodas create and exacerbate health problems. Gov. Larry Rhoden's office calls the plan too costly.

Two pieces of legislation are going to South Dakota’s House and Senate floors with different levels of increased penalties for disturbing worshippers. Both were filed in response to a recent protest in Minnesota.

Dozens of U.S. House Democrats and leaders of several caucuses rallied on a chilly morning outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in the nation’s capital, demanding the resignation, firing or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary #KristiNoem.

A South Dakota legislative panel greenlit a bill that would protect doctors and pharmacists who issue or fill off-label prescriptions for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine from liability. Neither drug is authorized as a COVID treatment by the FDA.

South Dakota House Republicans have suspended Rep. Phil Jensen from their caucus meetings for two weeks because of his remarks about Democratic votes on legislation dealing with religion.

States that were leaders in childhood vaccination before the pandemic are among those losing ground as exemptions and unfounded skepticism take hold. Read the story and see a state-by-state map of kindergarten vaccination rates by state. 👇

A federal judge blocked the termination of temporary protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians from taking effect, a move that prevents the Trump administration from acting to deport them as litigation continues.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that body cameras would be given to federal immigration agents across the country, starting in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by agents in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

South Dakota lawmakers defeated a bill that would have tightened limits on groundwater pumping by eliminating an exception for some deep aquifers.

A pair of questions that struck the bullseye contributed to a South Dakota legislative committee’s uncharacteristic rejection of two bills to roll back concealed gun laws. More details from the hearing:

South Dakota doesn’t recognize emergency medical services as essential under state law, and that wouldn’t change under an ambulance bill passed Monday by a state Senate panel.

South Dakotans hoping to run in the June primary election this year could have less time to circulate their nominating petitions to get on the ballot, based on a bill making its way through the legislative process.

A proposed nuclear energy study in South Dakota is a step toward the inevitable as the state considers incentives for #DataCenters, some experts say. Read the final installment of South Dakota Searchlight’s four-part series, The Data Center Divide:

An official in Sully County, which is home to South Dakota’s largest data center, says the county would welcome more #DataCenters with “open arms.” Read the third story in South Dakota Searchlight’s four-part series, The Data Center Divide:

South Dakota lawmakers have introduced at least 28 bills directly addressing #PropertyTaxes so far this legislative session as they look for ways to provide relief for taxpayers. “It’s going to be tough to get things exactly right, but we’re going to work at it,” one lawmaker said.

🎧️ Searchlight Report 🎧️ is the new podcast from South Dakota Searchlight. In Ep. 3: Criticisms of “woke” funding derail a program, a resolution asks for prayers, a bill would limit utilities' liability for wildfires, Rhoden backs Noem, and a look at "The Data Center Divide."

Timber Case No. 1, the first regulated timber harvest from a publicly owned forest, occurred in the #BlackHills. Author and historian David A. Wolff explains how and where in the new guidebook "On the Narrow Gauge and Beyond" from the South Dakota Historical Society Press. Excerpt: