Brock Greenfield

I am unequivocally pro-life. I favor laws regulating or restricting abortion. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, South Dakota’s “trigger ban” is in place. This allows for medical professionals to take measures to save the life of the mother. Other exceptions will undoubtedly be debated going forward, but in the office I am seeking, I will not be part of those discussions. Laws will obviously vary from state-to-state, but whatever our SD Legislature decides, I am confident our laws in South Dakota will promote a culture of life that is far superior to the “abortion-on-demand” status quo under Roe.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

Again, in my capacity, I will not be actively engaged in this debate, but I believe the Legislature will continue to explore lowering the sales tax rate back to 4%, as was essentially promised when the law changed back in 2016. A peripheral issue would be whether or not to exempt sales tax on food purchases. Those two competing ideas gained a fair amount of traction during the 2022 Session. Additionally, there will be a continuing discussion about property assessments/tax rates in specific circumstances.

Generally speaking, South Dakota is fiscally conservative. While we do a good job of balancing our priorities, I would recommend to future legislators that they ask themselves whether certain expenditures are central to the function of government. The state should do for the people what they cannot do for themselves, not what they WILL NOT do for themselves. There should be a focus on enhancing private sector endeavors, rather than public sector takeovers of private sector responsibilities and initiatives.

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

In South Dakota, during the pandemic we allowed individuals, businesses, and churches to make their own decisions regarding the safety of themselves and their patrons. While there may be limited emergency situations in which the government has to intervene, I would say we erred on the proper side by allowing those closest to the situations to make the best decisions possible for their own well-being. I do not think it is prudent to have a predisposition that extending the long-arm of government is proper in a given situation. Those debates should be considered on a case-by-case basis, given the best information available at the time. Moreover, as it relates to churches, those are often the source of refuge and strength when situations seem hopeless. Given the focus on mental health, I would encourage lawmakers to exercise caution when venturing down the debate trail of closing institutions that offer hope and encouragement.

“B” best reflects my position, but I would say such government-funded healthcare should be contingent on “needs” rather than “wants”. In South Dakota, we recognized that some people who were not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid could not afford health insurance coverage, so we established a public/private “risk pool” program. I believe private health insurance providers remain important components in ensuring health and well-being of the populous. My concern over “universal healthcare” is that it becomes less-and-less sustainable and may result in rationing of services based upon subjective criteria.

As with most of these questions, this is a policy matter that is outside the purview of the office I am seeking. However, I tend to oppose vaccine mandates (as my voting record over the years demonstrates), but I also recognize that—as it related to COVID—certain healthcare providers initially felt it necessary to require or strongly recommend vaccinations of their employees in order to protect the vulnerable populations they serve. In those cases, the employers ran the risk of losing good employees who chose not to comply with their policies. This was one of the most hotly-discussed items last year. After all was said and done, more was said than done. For the most part, though, employers have dialed back their efforts to require vaccines of those who did not immediately comply, as they recognized they could not afford to lose employees who are integral to their operations. That is not true in all cases, but things have tended to stabilize in relation to COVID vaccine mandates.

Our federal elected leaders need to recognize the threat exists, call it by name, and make it their priority to root out terrorism of all kinds, both foreign and domestic.

Choose not to answer

In general, this issue does not pertain to the office I am seeking. As it relates to the SD Investment Council, I will find out what their current practices are regarding BDS. In past years, they have helped to craft BDS policies with respect to other governments, and I believe they will advocate for exercising proper discretion in this case, as well. Beyond that, this is an issue well-beyond the purview of the Office of School and Public Lands.

Strongly Agree

Those who follow the legal process to immigrate and those who are bona fide refugees seeking asylum should be allowed to immigrate to the United States. Many of the individuals currently invading the U.S. through our porous southern border do not meet either of these conditions.

Agree

Lumping these items into one question makes it difficult to answer with one “check mark”. The Office of School and Public Lands is in charge of LANDS, as opposed to education policy. However, as a legislator, I have supported open-enrollment policies, scholarships for all qualified students—whether they attend public or private higher education institutions, limited tax credit legislation, and home schooling laws.

Strongly Agree

I am a Christian, and I love my Lord. Fundamentally, our system of government reflects Judeo-Christian values and traditions. A person does not have to be a practicing Christian in order to abide by the principles of our laws. They merely need to show love and respect for one another and refrain from doing things they should not do. This is extremely simplistic, but space does not allow for more than this…we should all try not to sin against God nor humankind. This promotes peace and order.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

I love the Lord. I am a sinner who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for God’s grace and mercy. When I chose to have a personal relationship with Christ and to walk in faith, my life’s journey went down a path I would have never chosen for myself, and it has been better and more blessed than anything I could have charted out for myself. The joy of salvation is unparalleled, and Christ offers hope when things may otherwise seem hopeless. I want people to see Christ’s love in me, and I hope those reading these words will know that Jesus loves them and lived and died and rose again for everybody. If you do not have a personal relationship with Him, I hope you will make the decision to trust in and follow Him. He will change your life and subsequently our world for the better, and your faith in Christ will help you keep an eternal and optimistic perspective.

Strongly Disagree

This is outside the purview of the office I am seeking. As a legislator for the past 22 year, however, I have seen numerous proposals and have helped to craft laws I felt strengthened our laws. I do think our campaign finance laws may need continued attention in order to shine a bright light on where contributions come from. Disclosure is hugely important, but people are constantly finding loopholes in order to get around campaign finance laws.

Racism is a scourge wherever it exists. Where it exists, it is absolutely a threat to domestic security. If we could all see beyond a person’s physical attributes and demonstrate love and tolerance for all, our country and our world would be a more peaceful place. I believe our country has made progress, but so long as racism or prejudice remain, there is still work to be done.

Strongly Disagree

I believe we should all resolve to be good stewards of the land and resources we have been entrusted with. Ideologues have swung the pendulum too far to the right and too far to the left. We have seen our government shut down projects in our country in the name of ideology, while removing sanctions on similar projects in other countries. This simply does not add up. However, people on the other side of the coin who are chasing the almighty dollar do not always make the best decisions possible for our environment and our world. Prior to the Alaskan pipeline coming to fruition, politicians argued that it would decimate the caribou population. However, history has shown the caribou population is thriving in the immediate proximity of the pipeline. Rather than making a blanket statement that stricter laws and regulations are good or bad, I believe every project should be looked at with a critical—yet objective—eye, and decision-makers should put proper controls in place if they are going to allow for projects to proceed.

Agree

Government should perform the functions that people cannot perform for themselves. Our federal government should provide for national defense. Our state government should foster excellence in education. Government at all levels should foster public safety. Government needs to care for those who cannot care for themselves. It should partner with the private sector when circumstances call for it, and it should embrace individual ingenuity and enterprise as appropriate. Too often when the government overreaches, it impedes progress rather than promoting it.

Very Conservative

I have 22 years worth of a voting record that can be accessed at sdlegislature.gov. Otherwise, I have been recognized by the NRA, South Dakota Right to Life, the Family Heritage Alliance, the American Conservative Union, the South Dakota Farm Bureau, among others as being a champion for their causes. Some ratings ebb and flow, but I have consistently been highly ranked by those organizations, including A or A+ ratings in many cases.

No

As Commissioner of School and Public Lands, my goal is to return maximum investment dollars to the K-12 and higher educations systems, while making solid management decisions as they relate to our natural resources, our dams, and the SD Investment Council. As it relates to legislative priorities, I will pursue securing funding for weed and pest control on public lands, as well as continuing to shine a light on which dams in our state are in need of repair or replacement. Were a dam to breach, we would run the risk of loss of life, livestock, land, and water supplies to various communities. Thankfully, our previous Commissioners have been good stewards of these resources, and I hope to enhance what they have established as a foundation.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

I believe in many cases our gun laws are sufficient….they just need to be enforced. Too often these days when somebody commits a violent crime, particularly with a firearm, soft-on-crime prosecutors fail to pursue appropriate action. Unfortunately, sometimes those who are not prosecuted as they should be end up reoffending. These soft-on-crime prosecutors seem to be more interested in pursuing action against people who defend themselves, their families, or their property than they are in taking on perpetrators.

Strongly Disagree