South Dakota Lawmakers are gearing up for the 2014 legislative session which begins next week. Some legislators spoke in Sioux Falls Thursday, to give the public a sample of what to expect from Pierre in the next few months.
Sioux Falls Area Lawmakers met for the annual Legislative Breakfast to preview the upcoming session. Some legislators are familiar with the system while others are new. Republican Representative David Anderson is one of the rookie lawmakers. He says he's hoping to make a difference in a bi-partisan way.
"I think balance is very important. I kind of related it to flying an airplane or driving a motorcycle. You can do that very well as long as you can stay balanced and once in a while you need to veer to the left or veer to the right to correct your course, but you have to get back to center and back to balance," Representative Anderson says.
This session features a lot of different topics from Domestic Violence, Sex Trafficking, Common Core Standards and Food Stamp Tax. Republican Representative Jim Stalzer says his goal is to not propose any new legislation. He says he is working with other lawmakers to avoid making changes when it comes to issues impacting businesses.
"They mainly want us to maintain where we are, keep our low tax base, keep our spending at a reasonable level. Out of the 12 states in the Midwest we're the only state that has actually gained aggregate income from 1995-2010," Representative Stalzer says.
The 2014 legislative session kicks off next Tuesday with Governor Daugaard giving the annual State-of-the-State Address.
