From the desk of the Executive Director 

Hello everyone! The New Year is well underway and we, as an organization, are very excited for what is to come in the year 2018.

The year is already in high gear which started with our Board/Annual meeting and Hog Roast event that took place on Tuesday, January 16th in Pierre, SD. We had close to 90 legislators who attended this event this year.

The 2018 Legislative session has already started and is in full gear. This will be a very busy and hectic session as we have already seen quite a number of bills that will affect the industry, and there are more to come from what we understand. These bills will be monitored by our lobbyist and our board through the session. We will also list those bills on our website: www.sdliquorandgaming.com and any other pertinent information pertaining to them. In this issue, there will be a record of all the legislators and their contact information. It’s important you get to know your legislators in your area, if you don’t already. Our Hog Roast has always been a great opportunity to visit in person, one – on –one, with the legislators regarding any bills that have come to light for the upcoming session. All members are welcome to attend and it certainly would be time well spent if you can make a trip to Pierre during that time.

So, how can you help during the session? In addition to our lobbyist visiting with the legislators and our board, it is also helpful for our members to visit with their legislators of those matters that affect their business and the industry. We may need some members to testify on behalf of the industry during committee meetings as well. The more communication they get from those in the business, the bigger impact it is for them as to how much this does affect your livelihood and the years to come.

There are several ways to contact a legislator. This can be done by email or by phoning the capitol and leaving a message with one of the “pages (interns)” for the legislators. Again, don’t hesitate to contact our office (Phone: #800-721-1789) for any information about a bill that is being heard, who your legislators are, or any contact information that you may need during the session. You can also monitor the bills as to the status of the bill, sponsors, votes, and where they are in committee, etc. by going to the South Dakota Legislative website, www.legis.sd.gov which will bring you to the SD legislative official site listing. There you can see all bills, both House and Senate, and a brief description of the bills. If you click on the bill no. it will further give you the status of the bill, what committees have heard the bill, and where it is going from there and those dates.

As always, we look forward to hearing from you. We wish you all a great 2018! Please watch our website for further updates in the near future. You can view the current website at: www.sdliquorandgaming.com.

Thank you.

Cathy Berg, Executive Director