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October 6, 2023
Dear John,
BIG Update
Ten years ago, Winter Storm Atlas came bearing down across western South Dakota. It brought record amounts of snow for the month of October, dumping 55 inches over Lead, South Dakota. Tens of thousands of livestock tragically perished in the storm, and many areas had power outages that lasted a week or longer.
Many of us have never experienced a storm like that in our lifetime, and hopefully never will again. The unprecedented nature of this storm brought people together to clear debris and restore damage over the following months. South Dakotans are tough and resilient. Neighbors helping neighbors, strangers helping strangers is the norm in South Dakota, even when times are tough.
The devastation endured by many is disheartening, but the strength of South Dakota remains.
BIG Idea
This week, I met with the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) to discuss the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule to require nursing homes to have an onsite RN 24 hours, 7 days a week and mandate minimum hours for RNs and CNAs. This rule would force nursing homes across South Dakota to close because they can’t fulfill the requirement. In fact, the rule would cause nursing homes across America to close because Alaska is the only state that currently meets CMS’s baseline. If the outcome of this rule is thousands of nursing homes closing, that certainly isn’t the best for America. Like SDAHO, I oppose this decision, and I’ve been working in Congress to ensure CMS’s rule does not get finalized.
BIG News
Unfortunately, the House made history this week. On Tuesday, eight Republican members of Congress (only 4% of Republicans) voted with every single Democrat to remove the Speaker of the House from his post. It is a historic move with detrimental consequences to our country and to the slim House Republican majority. We were making progress on lowering spending and securing the border – these eight members brought that progress to a halt.
Without a Speaker of the House, no legislative business can be conducted on the House Floor. This situation is a giant waste of America’s time. We are 40 days away from a government shutdown and haven’t passed the necessary funding bills to pay our military, the aviation bill, or the Farm Bill. America deserves better. I came to Congress to solve problems, it’s unfortunate that eight of my colleagues don’t feel the same. |
