Updates from SA's State & Local Committee

Today: Legislative Begins

Here are a couple of news pieces about the SD Legislature’s opening day of 2010

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) The South Dakota Legislature has convened for the year. Lawmakers were called into session shortly after noon Tuesday.

State senators and representatives were to take care of some organizational details and then gather in the House chambers to hear Gov. Mike Rounds’ state of the state address.

From KELO:

Some committees already met Monday to get their work in order before the session kicks off. Yankton Representative Bernie Hunhoff says that’s because the part-time legislature needs to get ready for the next two months of full-time work.

“We are truly a citizen legislature. We’ve kind of been in our ‘home-mode’ for the last nine or ten months taking care of family and business, and you have to get yourself indoctrinated back into politics and government,” Hunhoff said.

And while some lawmakers showed up early they don’t expect to get done early. With the main focus of this year’s session being on the budget, lawmakers say waiting for those final financial forecasts and hammering out those details will take them right up to the last few minutes of the session.