Some information on SB 36

Greetings. We all need to pray for rain or snow or any kind of moisture. Well, maybe not hail.
During the 2026 session, Sen. Steve Kolbeck and I prime-sponsored SB36 “Authorize certain utilities to establish wildfire mitigation plans and associated liability limitations for wildfire damages.” I know, a super long title for a super long bill, but it needed to be done. I had 30 House members sign it and Sen. Kolbeck had 17 senate members sign on.
You don’t really sign on any more like you did when I first got to Pierre. You press a button on your legislator laptop. I feel this automation is a regression. I’ll explain. The old system of hand copy paper bills forced the prime sponsor to seek legislators to sign on. This was an excellent way to meet new legislators in both bodies and then give them your condensed elevator speech on why this bill was necessary and what problem it was solving. 
You shook hands if you hadn’t met, introduced yourself and proceeded trying to convince that legislator to sign onto your bill. When it was time to present your bill in front of whatever committee it was assigned to, you could almost do it in your sleep because of all the practice you already had. Just pressing a button on your laptop saying you will sign onto your bill is a far cry on so many fronts. I’m kind of old school and think if a new system is forced on the legislature, it should be an improvement, not a step backwards.
Our Legislative Research Council always says it works for us, the legislators. Well, this is just one example where it just is not true. It’s kind of like the old Tom Sawyer trick of saying, “I bet you can’t paint my fence.” Well, maybe not the best analogy but I think you get my point.
Getting back to Senate Bill 36, you can look up SB36 and any other bills, at sdlegislature.gov. This is a giant plan that we got into codified law working with utilities, law enforcement, and civil authorities to have a comprehensive plan dealing with, as the title predicates, to establish wildfire mitigation plans and associated liability limitations for wildfire damages. We even got the trial lawyers testifying in favor of this bill! It passed and the governor signed it into law. So your homework, if you’re interested, is to look up SB36 and see the kind of work your legislators accomplished for the betterment of the state.
Pray for rain! Please!