Interview with Senator Carl Perry District 3

Senator Carl Perry of Aberdeen, the Senate Assistant Majority Leader for District 3, sits down with Dave Roetman in November 2025 to walk through his committee work and what he expects in the 2026 session. Perry runs through his committees, from Health and Human Services and State Affairs to Commerce and Energy, and says the South Dakota Retirement System takes good care of its people. He describes the summer study on incarceration and reentry, where he pushed for reform, rehabilitation, education, job training and faith-based help, and says the biggest problem for nursing homes is not beds but enough workers. He expects property taxes, housing, child care and the 4.2% sales tax sunset to be big issues, tells how he and Rep. Al Novstrup went to Washington, D.C., to learn about the federal REINS Act on regulations, and recounts a legislators’ tour of Basin Electric’s Deer Creek Station and the new prison plan. For District 3, he highlights the WINS water project, Northern State University’s e-learning program and NSU’s new president, Dr. Alan LaFave, and closes with a call to work together and get the job done. Topics: Senate leadership, South Dakota Retirement System, incarceration and reentry study, prison reform, nursing homes and community service providers, nursing home workforce, property taxes, housing and child care, sales tax sunset, REINS Act, Deer Creek Station, new men’s prison, WINS water project, Northern State University e-learning, Dr. Alan LaFave “Northern State University does something that I don’t think they pat themselves on the back enough on, and that’s their e-learning program. There are 3,500 kids throughout the state that get extra training from teachers that they would not get in their own classrooms.” - Carl Perry Show notes Published Nov. 15, 2025. Recorded in November 2025, shortly after Perry and Rep. Al Novstrup returned from an Americans for Prosperity fly-in in Washington, D.C., and as the Legislature’s summer studies were wrapping up. Guest * Carl Perry (R-Aberdeen) represents District 3 in the South Dakota Senate, where he has served since January 2025 and is the assistant majority leader. He served in the House for District 3 from 2019 to 2025. He is a Northern State University graduate and is retired from education collection management (SD Legislature; Ballotpedia). Background * The summer study Perry served on was the Initial Incarceration, Reentry Analysis, and Comparison of Relevant States Interim Committee, co-chaired by Sen. Kevin Jensen and Rep. Greg Jamison. Its final report (Nov. 19, 2025) recommended more GED and technical education inside prisons, bringing back the inmate community service program, restoring substance abuse, mental health and faith-based counseling, and letting nonprofits run residential rehabilitation programs (SD Legislature, final report). * The prison: in a one-day special session on Sept. 23, 2025, lawmakers approved a $650 million, 1,500-bed men’s prison in northeast Sioux Falls (South Dakota Searchlight, Sept. 23, 2025). The old penitentiary dates to 1881, as Perry says. * The REINS Act (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) would require Congress to approve major federal regulations before they take effect. Versions have passed the U.S. House, most recently in June 2023, but none has passed the Senate. Rep. Kat Cammack reintroduced it as H.R. 142 in January 2025 (Ballotpedia). * Deer Creek Station near Elkton is Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 300-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant (Electric Cooperative Innovation Center). The nine legislators on the tour, as Perry lists them: Sens. Glen Vilhauer, Kevin Jensen, Jim Mehlhaff and Perry, and Reps. Kent Roe, Tim Walburg, David Kull, Roger DeGroot and Keri Weems. * WINS (Water Investment in Northern South Dakota) is a joint project of WEB Water, BDM Rural Water and the city of Aberdeen to bring more Missouri River water to the region (WEB Water; South Dakota News Watch). * Northern State’s Center for Statewide E-learning, set up by the Legislature in 2001, delivers high school courses, including Advanced Placement, to South Dakota students, mostly in rural schools, who would otherwise have no chance to take them (Northern State University). The figures of 3,500 students and 65 of 66 counties are Perry’s. * Dr. Alan LaFave, a Northern State graduate and its former provost, was named NSU’s president on Nov. 10, 2025, after seven years as president of Valley City State University in North Dakota (SD Board of Regents). Update (November 2026) * South Dakota now has its own REINS Act. Senate Bill 133, with Sen. Sue Peterson and Rep. Al Novstrup as prime sponsors and Perry as a cosponsor, passed the Senate 33-0 and the House 66-1 and was signed by Gov. Larry Rhoden on March 12, 2026. A state “major rule,” one expected to cost businesses, people and local governments more than $3 million over two years, can’t take effect unless the Interim Rules Review Committee finds the agency has enough legislative authority or the Legislature passes a law directing it (SD Legislature; AFP-South Dakota). * The sales tax sunset: Senate Bill 195, which Perry cosponsored, would have kept the state sales tax at 4.2%. It failed on a 17-17 Senate vote in February 2026, so the rate is still scheduled to go back to 4.5% in 2027. Under Senate Bill 245, signed March 12, 2026, that extra money goes to cutting homeowners’ property taxes (SD Legislature; Dakota Free Press; South Dakota Searchlight). * Richmond Lake dam: Perry and Novstrup were the prime sponsors of Senate Bill 121, which put $8.2 million toward replacing the Richmond Lake dam and spillway near Aberdeen. It was signed March 30, 2026 (SD Legislature; SDPB). * Northern State: Dr. LaFave started as president on Jan. 5, 2026, and was formally installed as NSU’s 19th president on Sept. 25, 2026, the first alumnus to lead the university. NSU’s new Business and Health Innovation Center, built with $29.5 million in federal pandemic aid and $1.5 million from the state, held its grand opening on April 30, 2026 (Northern State University). * Nursing homes: the 2026 Legislature funded a 1.4% inflation increase in Medicaid payments for nursing facility services and many other providers, starting July 1, 2026 (SD Department of Social Services). Links * SD Legislature: Senator Carl Perry (2026, bills and committees): https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4800/Detail * SD Legislature: Senator Carl Perry (2025, bills and committees): https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4649/Detail * Ballotpedia: Carl Perry: https://ballotpedia.org/Carl_Perry * SD Legislature: Initial Incarceration, Reentry Analysis, and Comparison of Relevant States Interim Committee final report (Nov. 19, 2025): https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/288154.pdf * South Dakota Searchlight: South Dakota lawmakers approve $650 million prison construction project in Sioux Falls (Sept. 23, 2025): https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/09/23/south-dakota-lawmakers-approve-650-million-prison-construction-project-in-sioux-falls/ * Ballotpedia: REINS Act: https://ballotpedia.org/REINS_Act * Electric Cooperative Innovation Center: Deer Creek Station: https://www.cooperativeinnovationcenter.org/blog/energy-transition-in-rural-america-may-2022-nbspdeer-creek-station * WEB Water: WINS Project: https://webwaterprojects.org/wins-project * South Dakota News Watch: 4 big water projects underway in South Dakota: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/major-south-dakota-water-projects-lewis-clark/ * Northern State University: Center for Statewide E-learning: https://northern.edu/academics/high-school-programs/center-statewide-e-learning * SD Board of Regents: BOR names Dr. Alan LaFave as next president of NSU (Nov. 10, 2025): https://sdbor.edu/news/bor-names-dr-alan-lafave-as-next-president-of-nsu-11-10-25/ * SD Legislature: 2026 Senate Bill 133 (legislative oversight of rulemaking): https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26885 * AFP-South Dakota: Governor Rhoden signs AFP-SD-backed R… This is a public episode. 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