Rounds sounds off on new "airplane law" at Rapid City Journal
I almost missed this - today at the Rapid City Journal, Governor Rounds sounded off on the new "Airplane law." You know - the one that attached civil penalties to state employees on business trips that stop off at Wal Mart to buy a book to pass their evenings, or get a toothbrush because they forgot it at home.
This law goes far beyond restricting the use of a state airplane by a governor because it adds significant new penalties, and those penalties also apply to all state vehicles and all state employees, not just the state airplane and the governor.Read it all here. Also, catch the chatter over at Mt. Blogmore on this very topic.
and...
Unfortunately, the biggest impact is not on me. It will be on any state employee who uses any kind of state vehicle.
If a state employee does something of a personal nature on a trip, even if it is unintentional, they are in violation of the new law. If they stop at a drug store for aspirin, that is a violation. If they missed lunch and stop at a grocery store for a late snack, that is a violation.
This law is flawed. In many cases, the effect of this law will result in the state paying mileage for the use of a personal vehicle, in addition to the use of a state vehicle. If several employees are attending a meeting or conference, one will drive their own car to avoid any appearance of impropriety and accusations of improper use of a state vehicle. Unfortunately, the taxpayer will be expected to pick up the cost for the additional mileage payment.
Comments
The Argus doesn't like Rounds and doesn't pass up any opportunity to smear him, and this is the net result of their attack on his use of the state airplane.
The new law contains no new limitations of any kind on state employees, except for the governor, who was previously exempted. The only thing added for state employees other than the governor is the civil penalty - the criminal penalty was already there.
It was already illegal under the previous law for state employees to make diversions, but Rounds is deceptively trying to pass that off as something new that was added. The fact is that nobody has been prosecuted under the old law.
All that the new law does is make the governor subject to the same limits as other state employees, and added a civil penalty so a prosecutor has the option not to charge a crime if there is a violation.
If the governor were really concerned about state employees he would have repealed the preexisting prohibition for them to make diversions. It didn't bother him until he lost his special exemption.
Great post, 8:39.
The real point here is that the Argus Leader and other proponents of this law presented it as applying to the Governor on state aircraft. It is sloppy drafting that results in these strict penalties being extended to all state employees - I heard not one word about that prior to the election and I'll bet most people who voted "yes" didn't know that.
The Governor is willing to leave the restrictions on himself - he just thinks they should not be applied to state employees - because that is what people thought they were voting for.
Actually, civil penalties as the new law allows are less harsh than charging state employees with a crime. The new law actually allows the prosecutor more leeway in fashioning an appropriate remedy than under the old law. It's just better all the way around. And it applies equally to everybody. That's the governor's real gripe.
Most likely, the Governor will arrange for himself to receive free use of other people's planes to continue his high-flying ways. He's very resourceful when it comes to helping himself and his family (new governor's mansion, distillery, jobs, vietnam memorial product sales).
#2, this entire law is retarded from the get-go. beforehand, the gov would fly to official events, do something personal, and reimburse FOR THE WHOLE TRIP. is it not obvious that reimbursing the state for official use actually saves the state money. there are only two reasons this ever came about:
1. randell beck is a little girl
2. nesiba found out that rounds flew to debate him for the food tax repeal in the state plane.
whoop-di-frickin-doo. oh another thing. nesiba has been telling his students at augie that he came here "to fix south dakota". he's also anti-gun. go figure. liberals.
here's your hero.
http://homepage.mac.com/nesiba/Early_January_2003/PhotoAlbum13.html
Rounds is throwing a big hissy fit because he got his hand caught in the cookie jar. Now like a typical 6 year old he is trying to divert attention by pointing at someone else and screaming that they are doing something bad too.
Your use of the word retarded is offensive. It shows your ignorance.