Sioux Falls, SD (AP) — South Dakota lawmakers submit documents to Governor Kristi Noem’s administration to prove that they plan to give their daughter another opportunity to obtain a real estate appraiser license before the meeting I’m putting pressure on you. Last year it spurred the issue of conflict of interest.
Parliament’s Government Audit Committee is preparing to launch a subpoena on Monday if the Ministry of Labor does not submit a subpoena. Hand over the signed contract Between the governor’s daughter, Cassidy Peters, and state regulators. Peters qualified as an appraiser after a state agency moved to deny it last year. Nome’s Secretary of Labor said the deal was a roadmap for how Peters could improve her work.
Two members of the Commission, Republican Randy Gross and Democrat Linda Duba, said the Commission was ready to issue a subpoena. However, the subpoena also requires the approval of the Board of Directors, the highest parliamentary ranking committee to meet later next week.
The time when the agreement was reached has become an important issue for lawmakers in investigating episodes that made ethics experts say that Nome seems to be abusing the power of his office. NS The Associated Press first reported a few days later Last year, state agencies moved to reject Peters’ application to upgrade her appraiser status, and Nome held a meeting between Peters, who oversees her application, and state employees. Four months later, Peters received her license.
Nome defended her actions and told AP last week that the agreement had already taken place before the meeting and was not discussed at the meeting. The Governor of the Republican Party, who put himself in the bid for the White House in 2024, Cast the conference as part of many years of effort To solve the shortage of state appraisers.
Secretary of Labor Marcia Hartmann, who also attended a meeting at the Governor’s mansion last year, said I gave a similar explanation when she was asked by a member of the Diet She said the agreement was briefly discussed at the end of the meeting, but in October.
After hearing Hartmann’s opinion, lawmakers moved to request an agreement from her department to confirm the order and meetings of the agreements in place. They also agreed to keep any documents confidential to the Commission.
The Ministry of Labor did not immediately answer the AP’s question as to whether it would meet the demands of lawmakers.
The gnome showed that she was reluctant to turn it over.
“When you make a decision and open something, it sets a precedent,” she said at a press conference last week after being asked if she would release the document. “That’s why, to be consistent and fair, that’s exactly what I’m focusing on. I need to set the same precedent for everyone.”
The agreement itself is open to public inspection, but the Ministry of Labor has rejected the request from the AP, saying: duty free This allows the government to keep records confidential when dealing with exams. The Department of Appeals later decided that it was correct for the department to reject the request for record.
Congressmen will also complete a list of questions to ask lawyers on behalf of Shelley Bren, a former director of the Appraiser Certification Program. She was pressured by Hartmann to retire at the end of last year shortly after Peters received her license. Bren filed an ageist complaint, received $ 200,000 from the state, withdrew the complaint and quit his job.
Nome said the reconciliation had nothing to do with her daughter.
The commission demanded that Bren appear in front of them last month, but she declined. Some of her settlement agreements with the state prohibit her from looking down on state officials. However, Mr. Bren told AP through a lawyer that he would answer questions from lawmakers and “correct the facts” in Hartmann’s testimony to the commission.
Republican Chris Karr, one of the members of the committee, said, “We’ve organized it to find out what’s accurate, what’s true, what’s wrong, and the facts. I’m trying to figure out. “