Greetings from Pierre. This week, I will provide an update on three bills I sponsored as well as an update on the Appropriation budget hearings.

HB 1076 will allow townships to use an existing tax levy to support emergency medical services. The bill allows local government the flexibility to use property tax in a way that best serves local needs. Local government could create an ambulance district, but it would require a vote to increase taxes. This bill has passed through the House of Representatives and just passed Senate Taxation 7-0. It will be on the Senate floor on Monday.

HB 1154 will allow cities to extend municipal lease-purchase agreements to 20 years. Currently, these agreements are limited to 10 years. This bill will benefit communities that are considering a community center or similar projects that involve real estate improvement and construction. The lease-purchase agreement has several advantages over bonding. Bonding will have a slightly lower interest rate, but require significant investments in time and money to comply with regulatory debt restrictions. Municipal lease-purchase agreements do not require a bond election, underwriting fees or long term administration of the bond. This bill passed the House 67-0 and moves to the Senate.

Finally, HB 1155 will create an advisory board under the Department of Education to assist with the education of deaf and hard of hearing students. Since the South Dakota School for the Deaf closed its campus, deaf and hard of hearing students have been relocated to their local school districts. Outreach services provided by the School for the Deaf do not involve daily instruction and often do not involve interaction with the student. Due to the natural language barrier, a deaf student often struggles in a typical classroom. A deaf student often becomes isolated when he/she is unable to communicate with peers. The best example to illustrate this situation is to imagine a Spanish speaking student in an English speaking class without anyone to assist in translating classroom instruction. This board will be comprised of professionals, parents and representation from the department of education. The board will create benchmarks for students and resources for schools to assist in the education of deaf and hard of hearing students. The bill aims to reverse the trend of students with this disability graduating at an average 3^rd to 4^th grade reading level and improve post-secondary success. HB 1155 passed out of House Education 13-1.

In Appropriations, we heard budget requests from the Tech Schools and Department of Education. The department outlined 4 outcome goals: 1) All students enter the 4^th grade proficient in reading; 2) All students enter the 9^th grade proficient in reading; 3) Native American students will have increased academic success; 4) Students graduate high school ready for postsecondary or the workforce. These goals will be challenged by the governor’s recommendation for a zero inflationary increase to the per student allocation. The governor has also recommended a zero inflationary increase to teacher salary. This recommendation creates a paradox since, in 2016, the legislature passed the ½% percent sales specifically to increase teacher salaries in an attempt to stay competitive with surrounding states. The Appropriations Committee to this point has remained committed to finding additional money for education. We will do revenue projections this week and receive an economic forecast for the next fiscal year.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concern. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Greetings from Pierre. This week, I will provide an update on a few bills of interest as well as an update on the Appropriation budget hearings.

A reoccurring theme this session has been the need for more skilled workers in South Dakota. We have workforce shortages in many areas of our economy. Even our state agencies struggle with recruitment. Higher wages in our neighboring states has been a contributing factor. Despite these shortages and low wages, some legislators are submitting bills that jeopardize workforce recruitment. HB 1197 and 1199 seek to strip local school teachers and higher-ed professionals of their collective bargaining rights. Keep in mind, unions in South Dakota have very little power and that neither school districts nor universities are supporting these bills. Collective bargaining can be a tool to ensure a competitive living wage. These bills send a message to potential job seekers that we don’t value education or job experience.

Last year’s ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments enacted policies that some lawmakers were unwilling to accept. The result was a repeal of IM-22 passed by the voters in 2016. This year, some legislators are trying to limit your voice at the ballot. HJR 1008, if passed, would require any constitutional amendment passed by the people of South Dakota to be approved by the legislature. SJR 1, if passed, would require a 55% majority for any amendment to the constitution. A constitutional amendment already requires more signatures than a ballot initiative. Both resolutions suggest that voters are not competent to make an informed decision. If legislators were doing a better job of listening to the voters, these resolutions, ballot measures and constitutional amendments wouldn’t be necessary.

In Appropriations, we heard budget requests from the Board of Regents. The universities budgets remain relatively flat compared to last year. Mike Rush, the executive director, emphasized the importance of funding a needs-based scholarship program. In South Dakota, we average about $14 per student. Surrounding states fund needs-based scholarships at an average of $1,000 per student. In order to adequately fund this program, Dr. Rush says we would need to appropriate approximately $3.3 million in funding each year. Keeping the cost of post-secondary education down is another way for this state to develop a stronger workforce. Having a robust needs-based scholarship could provide additional opportunities to students who could not otherwise afford a degree.

BOR also outlined legislation for facility construction and renovation. The USD Dakota Dome will be getting a face lift. The Dakota Dome was built in 1979 for $8.2 million and seats 10,000 people. This upgrade will be a $26 million renovation. The renovation will include an upgrade to bathroom facilities, additional seating and a new HVAC system. Improvements will also include upgrades to the exercise facility, classrooms and field functionality. The money for this project will come from bonds, donations and the higher education facilities fund.

The School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is building a new $13.5 million facility. HB 1071 will allow for the construction of a 50,000 square feet building. The new facility will include classrooms, gym, residential area, staff offices and a playground. The current facility is 55 years old and requires significant maintenance and repair. The building would require new lighting, HVAC and wiring to meet today’s electrical and technology standards. If the state would decide to renovate, it would be at the expense of taxpayers. The new facility would be paid for by a donation.

SB 50 will authorize the construction of the American Indian Student Center at SDSU. The current student center is located in the basement of another building. President Dunn made improving student services to Native Americans a priority. Because many native students come from poverty and troubled backgrounds, Dunn believes it is essential for these students have a secure and supportive place at the university to ensure a higher level of success. President Dunn cites the success of similar programs in states like Montana. The new facility will be paid for through $4 million in donations and a $500,000 expenditure from the School and Public Lands annual allocation.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concern. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Greetings from Pierre. This week, I will provide an update on a few of the bills that I am bringing this session as well as an update on the Appropriation budget hearings.

Last week, I talked about HB 1089, which repeals the SD Certified Beef Fund. Some members of the agricultural community reached out this week and wanted to salvage this underutilized program. In the spirit of cooperation, I recommended to the committee we hold of action on this program for 1 year. During the summer, we will look at ways to improve the current program and sources of funding. Last year, the legislature voted (which I opposed) to sweep $100,000 from this fund to balance the state budget. The fund sweep left the current balance in this fund at $564.05.

On Thursday, HB 1076 passed out of House Taxation by a vote of 13 to 1. This bill will give townships the ability to use their current tax levy for fire protection to include emergency medical services. Many of our local townships had been supporting ambulance services until a judge ruled that it violated state law. I was approached by the President of the Minnehaha Towns and Township Board to sponsor this bill to fix the problem. This bill does not raise taxes, but it allows more flexibility and control at the local level.

In Appropriations, we continued state agency budget hearings. We reviewed budgets for the Department of Corrections, Military and Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services and the Attorney General’s Office.

Despite the Governor’s criminal justice reform initiative, prison populations continue to grow. We are near or at capacity in all of our prison facilities. In order to help address some of the challenges facing our corrections system, the Appropriations Committee will recommend the department go through the LEAN process. The LEAN approach is aimed at waste minimization. The goal is to improve the process used to release and integrate non-violent offenders back into the population and reduce the recidivism rate. The Appropriations Committee has recommended that other departments like BIT and the Department of Revenue complete this process. The results have been encouraging. Each of these departments has improved its customer service and shown an increase in productivity without increasing costs.

Humans Services provided their annual report on provider reimbursement rates for community-based service providers. This year’s appropriation was intended to get providers to 100% of cost. Unfortunately, it appears this reimbursement rate scale is flawed. Providers, like nursing homes, still struggle to pay competitive wages and keep up with rising health care costs. Many nursing homes are contracting with temp-labor agencies to fill vacant positions. Due to low Medicaid reimbursement rates, many nursing homes are turning away high risk patients. Many of these patients end up in facilities out-of-state and away from their families.

The Attorney General’s Office gave a positive report. Last year, the AG forecasted increased costs and the need for additional staff due to reporting requirements from Marsy’s Law. In this year’s budget, Jackley recommended a reduction in spending authority and staff because Marsy’s Law did not have the anticipated increased expenses. Jackley also recommended that we reinstate the Governor’s proposed cuts to Elder Abuse Task Force. The Governor’s cuts include one prosecutor and one investigator. These positions are needed due to an increase in elder fraud cases. This program has been highly effective and in 2017 resulted in restitution of $232,476 from convictions.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concerns. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Greetings from Pierre. This week, I will cover a few of the bills that I am bringing this session as well as an update on the Appropriation budget process.

With all the new laws written and approved each session, it is equally important to remove unnecessary laws. In 2005, the state created the South Dakota Beef Program. While this program never really got off the ground, money was put into a Certified Beef Fund to administer this program. Over the last 10 years, the fund has paid auditing fees and has been swept by the legislature to balance the state budget. Today, $564.05 remains in the fund. HB 1089 will repeal this legislation and transfer the remaining money into the Rural Rehabilitation Fund under the Department of Agriculture. The state will continue to maintain the South Dakota Beef trademark and will be able to administer its use through the Department of Agriculture.

During session, legislators often work and vote on bills that cleanup mistakes from previous years or old and redundant language. In HB 1077, I will replace the term “mentally retarded” with “intellectually impaired.” In 2010, Congress passed Rosa’s Law which changed references to “mental retardation” to “intellectually impaired” in federal law. The change comes from the negative use and connotations of the term “mentally retarded.” This term is considered extremely offensive for whom the term is applied.

One of Dennis Daugaard’s priorities during his tenure as governor has been the sale of surplus property. If the state does not have a use for land or a building, it should be sold and returned to the tax roll. The question becomes what is the best use of the money from these sales? Sometimes, the property is held in trust. If trust land is sold, the money from that sale returns to a trust fund under School and Public Lands. The money earned is then used to for the purpose of the trust. For example, when STAR Academy was sold, the proceeds went to a Corrections Trust. Each year, a disbursement from this fund goes to fund the corrections training program.

Last year, we voted to sell surplus property from the Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Because the land is not held in a trust, the money goes to the General Fund. I have introduced HB 1090 to appropriate the money from this land sale to the Michael J. Fitzmaurice Endowment Fund. This fund was created by the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs to benefit the activities of the veterans at the SD Veteran’s Home. I believe this is the best use of these dollars. If the money remains in the General Fund, we will spend it this year and it will be gone. We can take these same dollars and place them in the endowment. Doing this will cause the endowment and the annual disbursement to grow each year. The money we invest today will continue to serve our veterans long after we have left this earth.

In Appropriations, we continued` state agency budget hearings. We reviewed 10 state agency budgets including Transportation, Revenue, Tourism, and Game, Fish and Parks. Most departments have requested minimal or no increase in spending. The Appropriations Committee is concerned with the governor’s no increase recommendation in wages for state workers. South Dakota lags behind its neighbors in state wages. The state also pays far less than the private sector for similar jobs within the state. This disparity has made it difficult for state agencies to fill vacant positions. With many “Baby Boomers” retiring from the workforce, the problem is compounded. The Appropriations Committee has made it a priority to find the funding to provide some kind of increase this year for state workers.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concerns. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Dear Constituents,

Thank you for choosing me to represent you in Pierre. Each week during session, I will give updates on issues in Pierre. This week I will cover the impact of Federal Tax Reform, Medicaid, and the state budget.

The passage of the federal tax reform will impact several aspects of state government. Fortunately, the version that passed preserves the tax credit for bonding. Had this provision been removed, the cost for publicly bonded facilities, like schools, would have increased significantly. There is a 15% reduction in the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Program. This program provides tax credits for low income and affordable housing. These tax credits are tied to the corporate tax rate. The corporate tax rate was cut from 35% to 21%. This cut certainly benefits South Dakota corporations, but will compound the affordable housing shortage and the recruitment of much need workers in South Dakota.

The State will be proposing changes to the Medicaid program. The Governor is working with IHS (Indian Health Services) to get full federal reimbursement for tribal members even if the services are provided by a non-IHS facility. Currently, state Medicaid pays more than 96 million dollars for native health care services. The state has also filed an 1115 Medicaid waiver. A section 1115 waiver provides states an opportunity to test existing or pilot new ways to deliver and pay for health care. The State is proposing a two year pilot program in Minnehaha and Pennington counties that would impact approximately 1,300 Medicaid recipients. Participants would be automatically enrolled in an intensive employment and training services within the Department of Labor.

In Appropriations, we began state agency budget hearings. Thus far, we have reviewed the budget and funding requests for thirteen agencies. These budgets include the Governor’s Office, Legislature, Secretary of State and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The Governor has recommended no inflationary increase to education, most Medicaid providers and state employees. We continue to struggle recruiting teachers, health care professionals in Medicaid supported facilities (like nursing homes) and in state government. Many of our surrounding states pay more and offer better benefits. We have a workforce shortage in South Dakota. Comparable pay is a real workforce development challenge. I am concerned that if we do not find money to provide some increase to these areas, it will further compound our existing problems. One of the more interesting items from our budget hearings came from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Due to the corporate tax cuts at the federal level, the PUC is requiring the utility providers to return these savings to rate payers. This may take two years to fully realize results, but South Dakota taxpayers should see some kind of rate reduction or rebate from their utility providers.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concerns. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Greetings from Pierre. The legislature has wrapped up the 2017 session. While there have been some disappointments, I would like to focus on the accomplishments.

The repeal of IM-22 was a controversial issue in Pierre this session. However, with help from the voters, we passed HB1076. This bill creates the Government Accountability Board. The legislature will also study campaign finance reform over the summer.

This session, the legislature increased funding for the Intensive Meth Treatment Program. Across the board cuts in 2011 have had a devastating impact on our fight against meth addiction. Instead of a reduction in meth use, we have seen an increase in cases. This money will enable our providers increase the number of people receiving treatment for meth addiction.

The legislature also appropriated money for the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Lab addition and renovation at SDSU. This facility is our line of defense against animal disease and protecting our food supply. This lab also handles the quarantine process when an outbreak occurs. This lab serves our farmers as well as food processors like the turkey plant in Huron and Morrells in Sioux Falls.

During the governor’s budget address, he advocated for a 1% increase for education, Medicaid providers and state employees. When revenues came in lower than expected, these recommendations were eliminated by the governor. By statute, the legislature was still obligated to give education a three-tenths of a percent increase. Republican leadership advocated not giving an increase to education and voted to eliminate language that dedicated the ½ percent sales tax to education.

Through a bi-partisan effort with the Senate, we were able to get a .3% increase for education, .3% for most Medicaid providers and reduce insurance costs for state employees. Many in Republicans in the House were unhappy with this plan. Ultimately, most voted for the increases. We were able to get the increase without increasing the budget or making cuts that would hurt ongoing programs.

We did not attempt to put language back into statute that dedicated the ½ percent sales tax to education. The way the previous language was written, the legislature would have cut $5.9 million from education. Even with the .3% increase in the funding formula, education would have taken a $3 million cut. The ½ percent sales tax will most likely be an issue in the 2018 session.

Thank you to everyone that called, emailed or stopped by to talk about issues and share concerns. Please continue to contact me with issues or concerns at 940-3071 or dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Greetings from Pierre. We are entering the final week of the legislative session. So far, government accountability has dominated this session. This November, the voters of South Dakota voiced their distrust of government with the passage of IM-22. But are we really listening?   Last week’s activities suggest we still have a lot of work to do.

On Wednesday, Senate State Affairs heard testimony on SCR 15. This resolution addressed our country’s policy on refugees. The sponsors of this resolution criticizes the refugee program and declared that our refugees in the United States and their children have links to ISIS and other terrorist organizations. If the sponsors had spent a little time researching the refugee process, they would know that this is a grueling 18 month process resulting in very few applicants being accepted. Less than 23% of all applicants are accepted into the refugee program. Many of these refugees applied multiple times and wait years to be accepted. The committee heard testimony for more than 2 hours, then recessed for legislators to vote on bills in their respective chambers. After session, State Affairs reconvened and continued action on SCR 15. The resolution was then gutted and new language inserted to thank President Donald Trump for keeping us safe from radical Islamic terrorism. The resolution was passed out of committee. It was a slap in the face of every refugee that came to Pierre that day.

HB 1150 was heard in Senate Appropriations on Thursday. This bill would allow non-resident military veterans get hunting licenses at the resident rate. The premise of service members getting a preferable hunting rate could be applied to numerous categories. Keeping non-resident at one rate and resident at another is the simplest and most appropriate way for Game Fish and Parks to offer licenses. The proponents submitted a lot of testimony. A military veteran of the Korean War even testified. The insult came when the chair deferred action on the bill. All the proponents left the room and the committee moved on to other bills. At the end of the committee hearing, the chair brought the bill back and the committee tabled the bill. They didn’t have the courage to vote on this bill while the proponents were in the room.

HB 1149 is a tax reduction to the TRS fee on your telephone bill. It has passed both houses and is on the governor’s desk. This tax provides telecommunication services for people with disabilities. For the past decade, the revenues from this tax have exceeded the expenses by 40%. The reduction will align the revenues with the actual need. Because the fund balances in this account continue to grow, it has become fund that is routinely swept and the money used for other purposes. The governor and legislature have used this money to balance the budget and fund projects like the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Old Homestake Mine. Good tax policy dictates that revenues should reflect expenses. When I heard that the legislature planned to sweep this fund again, I wrote this bill to highlight this practice and promote fiscal transparency. Currently, the legislature still plans to sweep $800,000 to balance the state’s budget. We have a reserve fund for this purpose. If the legislature sweeps this fund, they are basically stealing from people with disabilities.

Finally, the legislature does not intend to honor its commitment to education with half cent sales tax increase from last year. By statute, we are obligated to increase funding to education by 3 tenths of a percent for FY 2018. This equates to $2.4 million dollars to be used primarily for teacher salaries. The real rub came when we had a bill to extend the date for schools to spend down their reserves. This bill would have extended the date to 2020. The issue of large reserves was, in part, created by the legislature. For more than a decade, the legislature has given additional dollars to education as one-time funding. Each time the legislature told schools that this was one-time funding and not to expect it next year. This creates a budgeting problem for schools, because it limits the way money can be spent. For example, you cannot fund salary increases on one-time monies. Legislators stated we had a deal with the passage of the half cent sales tax increase that schools would spend down reserves. The legislature expects the schools to keep their end of the bargain, but they don’t intend meet their obligations.

The legislature needs to conduct itself in a more respectful manner. In the shadow of IM-22, the legislature has learned very little about showing more respect or listening to voters. Legislators continue to think people are not watching their actions. Please don’t let them dismiss you as a constituent. Contact your local legislators and tell them to honor their commitment to education and conduct themselves in a more professional manner.

Thank you for your continued support and thoughtful comments. If you have any questions, please email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov or call 940-3071.

Greetings from Pierre. Its crunch time at the capitol. We had cross-over, Appropriations sub-committees reviewed department budgets and I will give an update on some of the more interesting bills.

Cross-over was Thursday. This day is when all bills must be out of the house of origin. House bills out of the House and vice versa. Legislators are like high school students that wait until Sunday to finish homework due on Monday. Consequently, the House worked until 9:20 p.m. and the Senate until 6:30 p.m. on Thursday to get its work done.

Appropriations sub-committees started meeting this past week with departments to evaluate budgets. So far, we have adopted sub-committee recommendations for the governor’s office, lieutenant governor, office of economic development, state auditor, state treasurer and the PUC. Many of these departments have small budgets, so the reviews do not take much time. Appropriations must find $25 million in the 2017 and nearly $30 million in the 2018 in order to balance the budget. Most of 2017 will be accomplished with one time savings like the closure of STAR Academy. The savings from the closure will be approximately $2 million. Some of the savings will come from department suggestions and a reduction in current spending for the remainder of the fiscal year. Any deficit left will most likely come from reserves. For 2018, Appropriations and its sub-committees are eliminating most of the department’s program expansions. Education will get its mandatory increase of .3%. Our service providers will receive no increase. This approach will eliminate most of the deficit. Any remaining deficit will most likely mean program cuts.

Here is an update on some bills of interest. HB 1076, the government accountability board, passed the House by a vote of 64 to 3. Email your Senators and ask for their support. This is an excellent bill and has the support of the Attorney General and Secretary of State. SB 54 from the Secretary of State’s office addresses campaign finance was amended and passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 16. Unfortunately, this bill does very little to limit campaign donations like IM-22. Attempts to amend the bill failed. We will try to amend again in the House. It is important that the limits in this bill reflect those in IM-22. Legislators should respect the will of the voters. Finally, SB 55 known as the “Science Bill” would have allowed teachers to teach non-scientific theory in place of actual science. This bill failed in House Education and was deferred to the 41^st legislative day 11 to 4.

Thank you for the email and calls this past week. Your input is important and appreciated. If you have questions or concerns, please email dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov or call 940-3071.

Greetings from Pierre. This week I would like to explain the revenue process as it relates to the budget. I will also give an update on bills concerning ethics and campaign finance reform.

Appropriations, as part of the budget process, adopts revenue estimates for each fiscal year. As a member of the revenues sub-committee, my job is to analyze revenue estimates from our legislative and the governor’s financial staff. First, we review the revenues for fiscal year 2017 which began on July 1^st, 2016. Based on revenues for the previous 6 months, we determined that this year’s revenues will come in $25 million below the adopted budget.

Three main factors contribute to the down turn in revenues. The Ag economy is down and commodity prices are low. Farmers purchase less equipment and sales and use tax revenues goes down. There is a price deflation in consumer goods that also impacts revenues. When you go to McDonalds and purchase a McPick 2, the cost is $2. Normally, the cost is $5. Currently, the sales tax collected is 15 cents instead of the 33 cents at regular price. If you compound this price deflation over thousands of transactions every day, there is a significant decrease in sales tax revenue. Finally, the uncollected sales tax from internet sales continues to have a negative impact on revenues.

The second part of revenue projections is estimating the revenues for fiscal year 2018. Essentially, we are making an educated guess on a year’s worth of revenues 6 months before that fiscal year begins. We make those estimates based on current fiscal year data as well as economic forecasting on the state and national level. Both the governor’s financial and the legislature’s financial staff present statistical and economic trend data. We also consider outside forecasts from economists. Using all this data, the revenue projections sub-committee adopts a revenue estimate. The revenue estimates for fiscal year 2018 are $38 million less than the governor projected in his December budget address.

While this information sounds bad, I suggest now is the time to take a breath and gain perspective. This week, the governor’s departments we come to appropriations with areas where money can be saved. Our sub-committees will look at department expansions and determine if it is necessary. We can make many changes without cuts to programs. We also have $136 million in reserve funds. If we need $10 to $15 million to balance the state budget, it would be an appropriate use of funds. The worse thing we can do in a single down year is make unnecessary cuts. In 2011, we had a significant structural deficit. The knee jerk reaction was a 10% across the board cut. Those cuts had a negative impact on many state programs, schools and service providers across the state. Later, we learned that the deficit was not as bad as anticipated. The depth of the cut was unnecessary, but many of those dollars were not restored. It took our service providers and schools four years to get back to the funding levels pre 2011. It would be fiscally prudent to take a year and ride out the economic rollercoaster.

Here is an update on current ethics and campaign finance reform bills. HB 1073 which establishes limits on gifts from lobbyists passed the House this week by a vote of 66 to 0. It will be heard next in Senate State Affairs. HB 1076, the government accountability board will be heard in House State Affairs on Wednesday. Email your legislators and ask for their support. This is an excellent bill and has the support of the Attorney General and Secretary of State. Finally, SB 54 from the Secretary of State’s office has been amended and action was deferred until this week. This bill contains a lot of language updates and definitions of what constitutes a donor, entity and political organization. Unfortunately, the bill does very little to limit campaign donations like IM-22. I’m sure there will be further attempts to amend. I will keep you updated.

Thank you for the email and calls this past week. Your input is important and appreciated. If you have questions or concerns, please email dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov or call 940-3071.