Meet the Candidate: Heather Baxter seeks election to Rapid City area House seat
Baxter faces incumbents Becky Drury and Mike Derby
Heather Baxter is seeking election to the South Dakota State House in District 34. The district consists of western Rapid City, just beyond downtown.
The Dakota Scout sent a series of questions to all legislative candidates running in contested races for the state House and Senate in the June 4 primary election. Candidates were asked to limit their responses to each question to 150 words or less.
Age: 48
City of residence: Rapid City
Profession: Small Business Owner
Public service/community service experience: Pennington County GOP Executive Board Member, Women's Shelter volunteer, volunteered in RCAS district for eight years, and volunteered for two years in my local church childcare ministry.
Family information: I have two teenage daughters.
1) What's the government's role in facilitating economic development in South Dakota?
The government was created to protect and secure our unalienable rights and protect us from domestic and foreign adversaries. I feel the government does not need to be involved with SD development. The government always brings strings attached and their specific rules to follow. This in turn creates big government and less will of the people. I am in favor of economic development but not when it comes with governmental control, bureaucracy, and at the taxpayers’ expense.
2) If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
I would choose to have dinner with Jesus because I would love to talk with Him face to face, see Him in person while listening to how His day was!
3) Does the "Landowner Bill of Rights" -- adopted by the Legislature amid opposition to carbon pipeline companies using eminent domain -- strike the right balance between the interests of property owners, counties and the ag industry - and should voters get a say when they head to the polls in November?
The “Landowner Bill of Rights” has no balance between the interests of property owners, counties, and the ag industry. SB 201 allows private companies to take SD land of their choice for corporate or private profit. It does not protect our Constitutional rights; it overrides our 135-year tradition of county zoning authority and nullifies local ordinances. The bill privatizes the profits and pre-negotiated terms while diminishing public safety oversight. The bill also limits local governments to impose fees which allows high probability of taxpayers to pay for any pipeline accidents. It leaves our Public Utility Commissioner with limited capabilities due to the vagueness of the language. Taking away local control and private property equals big government and less will of we the people. The people should get a say in November.
