Sometimes I think it may be a good idea to drug test legislators, especially when they come up with stupid crap like this. You are either brain dead or on drugs killing your brain cells;
The bill would cut the state’s tourism tax rate from 1-1/2 percent to 1 percent, which wouldn’t leave enough funding for the South Dakota Arts Council.
State Rep. Tom Pischke (R-Dell Rapids) sponsored the bill because he doesn’t like the way the money is collected.
“Let’s say for example, I live in Dell Rapids and I want to take my kids to the children’s museum in Brookings. So I don’t really consider myself a tourist if I drive 30 miles up to Brookings to take the kids to the Children’s Museum. But then again, I’m getting charged a tourism tax,” says Pischke.
The definition of Tourist;
a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure.
Doesn’t matter if Tom lived next door to the museum, he is still a tourist. Oh, but Tom’s argument gets even better;
Pischke says he supports the arts, but doesn’t think the tourism tax should go toward things the SculptureWalk or JazzFest, two recipients of funding from the state art council. He says the collected funds should go directly toward tourism.
Public art is tourism. Do you think people would travel to Mt. Rushmore if there wasn’t a sculpture into the side of that mountain? Where do these legislators come up with this stuff?
How many South Dakota State legislators does it take to screw in a light bulb? Zero. They would be too busy arguing over how to pay for the light bulb, in the dark.
South Dakota is not just stagnating but going backwards on all fronts in regards to moving forward. It shows economically, education wise, environmental protections, access to health care, very regressive taxation, culturally, affordable housing, wages. Seriously besides Hobby Lobby, a bunch of religious extremists and those that will pull up the ladder after they made it who the heck would want to move or relocate a business in SD? Oh yeah! CAFOS/factory farms would want to re-locate to SD.
If I would visit the State Capitol right now, would I be seen as a “tourist” or as someone who is visiting and showing concern for an asylum?
It seems harder to change than to keep it the same. In Vegas you can get a hotel room for $80 but there’s a $25 city resort fee. Now that’s a ripoff.
Somebodies doing a lot of copy/paste the same BS on many comment pages. Still void of an original thought!!!
Anyone who deviates 50 miles off the interstate to see the state capital is not a tourist, they’re an adventurer.