State Senator calls ban on House floor an overreaction

Local State Senator Tom Pischke is calling the ban he was given from the House of Representatives floor and lobby the last week of the 2024 Legislative Session an overreaction.
Sen. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids, our State Senator for Moody County, received a letter during the final week of the session from Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown, informing him of the action.
It followed Pischke placing a bottle of syrup on another lawmakers desk a violation of decorum, Bartels wrote.
Pischke has said that he placed the bottle of syrup on Rapid City Republican Rep. Kristin Conzets desk days after Conzet motioned to defeat a commemoration celebrating the late Nancy Green, whose likeness was used to create the Aunt Jemima advertising character, formerly used on syrup and other products.
The commemoration was introduced by Rapid City Republican Rep. Phil Jensen and co-sponsored by Pischke and Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre.
It stated, in part, that Nancy Green was a remarkable woman whose story has been sadly erased by politics.
The Aunt Jemima brand was discontinued in 2021, a change made in response to criticism that the caricature of a Black woman perpetuated outdated and offensive portrayals of African Americans.
Pischke has since sent a letter of apology to Rep. Conzet.
Pischke is being challenged for his seat this next term by former State Senator Jordan Youngberg.