Broadcaster Press 11 August 12, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com Capitol Notebook: Progress made in informing public on state tax refunds By Bob Mercer State Capitol Bureau PIERRE – State government awarded $113,985,231.94 in construction tax refunds for projects in South Dakota between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 2014. More than $67 million of those refunds came since early 2009. Those were under a state program that expired at the end of 2012. Projects were allowed to continue collecting their refunds through this year. We know the names of the companies and the amounts they received but nothing more. They fit on a two-page document published by the state Department of Revenue. (You can find it at http://dor.sd.gov/Taxes/B usiness_Taxes/Statistics/2 014/PDFs/ConstructionSt ats.pdf on the Internet.) Until 2009, we weren’t allowed to even know the names or the amounts. That information was specifically kept confidential under a state law. A reporter for this newspaper and several other daily papers found a flaw that allowed the public to learn the names of companies that applied for the refunds. At that point the Legislature, already concerned about the $46 million of refunds that had already been handed out, decided the names and amounts should become public knowledge. And with that knowledge came a second decision by the Legislature to set an ending date for the program. The Legislature then made another decision at the suggestion of Gov. Dennis Daugaard to create a replacement program. Democratic Party petition carriers successfully referred the legislation to the 2012 ballot and voters rejected it. In 2013 the Legislature created another state refund program. It made several important changes. Refunds aren’t automatic. The state Board of Economic Development decides whether a project needed the refund as an incentive to be built in South Dakota. Projects such as oil pipelines wouldn’t be eligible any longer. The TransCanada Keystone pipeline received $14.3 million, the largest single refund under the old program. Four legislators would serve in non-voting monitoring positions on the state board. And the board would receive broader responsibilities over new state grant programs intended to assist specific projects and local economic development organizations. Under the new taxrefund program, the state board awarded $8,746,697 in “reinvestment payments” to seven projects during the 2014 fiscal year that ended June 30. For the first time, legislators and citizens can see details about each of the projects. Those include the amount of refund sought, the number of full-time equivalent positions expected to be created, the average hourly wage for those positions, the project’s location, local property taxes to be paid by the project and other government assistance received by the project. The Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee received that first-ever report Tuesday. The state board received nine applications. Two were rejected totaling $482,000 in reinvestment payments sought. Three were approved at 100 percent of the amounts requested. Four were approved at 38 to 84 percent of the amounts sought. There will be 367 FTEs created: 3M Brookings 17; Marmen Energy at Brandon 250; Novita at Aurora 28; B&H Wind in Campbell County 30; Polaris Sales at Vermillion 20; Consumers Supply Distributing at Dakota Dunes 16; and Campbell County Wind Farm six. The next step should be posting the report on a state government Internet site that people can find. New rules expand access to help for diabetes patients Assistance for K-12 patients with diabetes will be expanded in South Dakota. New legislative rules will allow carefully trained personnel who are not RNs to administer insulin shots, allowing schools and other entities that don’t have a nurse on staff to better serve patients. The next steps for the South Dakota Diabetes Coalition are to find schools in South Dakota that are interested in the program and continue to secure funding for the program. The new rules follow a three-year South Dakota Board of Nursing study – The Virtual Nursing Care for Children with Diabetes in the School Setting –supported by grant funds from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the SD Department of Health. It addressed three problems: 1) access to care for individuals living with diabetes in settings where a nurse is not always present, 2) legal barriers to delegation and supervision of insulin administration, and 3) the cost of sustaining the current model of care. Throughout the study, a total of 31 children in 22 schools participated. Registered Nurse Certified Diabetes Educators served as the “virtual nurses” at two hub sites at Avera McKennan Hospital and Sanford USD Medical 624-4429 Hartington Tree LLC TREE TRIMMING, REMOVALS & TRANSPLANTING TREES FOR SALE EVERGREEN • SHADE • ORNAMENTAL Yankton 605-260-1490 Hartington 402-254-6710 Serving Southeast SD & Northeast NE for 20 Years Kent & Kyle Hochstein • Licensed Arborists www.hartingtontree.com expectations. KNUTSON FAMILY DENTISTRY Dr. Richard Knutson Dr. Matthew Knutson Dental Excellence for Children & Adults HOURS: Monday – Friday, 8:30 – 5:30 1714 East Cherry Street, Vermillion rules allow RNs to delegate insulin administration to UAPs who meet the training requirements and who register with the South Dakota Board of Nursing. Currently, the South Dakota Diabetes Coalition is working to help school-aged children receive insulin from a UAP. The legislative ruling allows for additional individuals, such as those in group homes and assisted living facilities, to receive care from a UAP. More information is available on the South Dakota Diabetes Coalition website, www.SDDiabetesCoalitio n.org. Tell Them You Saw It in The Broadcaster! Raise your Cosmetic • Implants General Practice •Single Visit Crowns Braces For Adults & Children •Invisalign Center. The virtual nurses managed the diabetes care and delegated tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The UAPs participated in a 10-hour training program and competency assessment before working with the students. The UAPs followed a Diabetes Medical Management Plan written by the child’s parents and primary health provider and the virtual nurses reviewed the program weekly. Throughout the study, 5,568 doses of insulin were administered safely. The changes to the South Dakota Board of Nursing’s Administrative Rules went into effect on July 28th, 2014. 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