Event: SDSEO District 24 Legislator Forum
Date: Tuesday, May 21
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Pierre Chamber of Commerce Community Room

PIERRE, S.D. – (May 8, 2013) The South Dakota State Employees Organization will host District 24 legislators Sen. Jeff Monroe and Reps. Mary Duvall and Tim Rounds in a forum for SDSEO members and state government employees the evening of Tues., May 21. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Pierre Chamber of Commerce Community Room. SDSEO executive director Eric Ollila and SDSEO president Kim Conlin encourage SDSEO members and employees of the state of South Dakota to attend.

“This forum is a listening/feedback session for state government employees, whether SDSEO member or not, and District 24 legislators,” says Ollila. “During the legislative session, our legislators are faced with multitudes of issues, most of which do not directly involve the state public servant. The time for the SDSEO to help the state employee present issues is prior to the big stir of the session.”

Conlin, who was elected president of the SDSEO at the organization’s April 27 annual meeting, the House of Delegates, said the forum is the first but not the last. “The first forum will be in Pierre, but we intend to host forums in areas where we have high concentrations of state employees, including Sioux Falls, Brookings, Rapid City, Spearfish, Aberdeen, and Watertown,” says Conlin.

In lieu of attendance, South Dakota state government employees may submit queries for legislators to office@sdseo.org. However, Ollila says that state employees need not fear attending and interacting with legislators at the event. “The SDSEO is an organization that works with politicians and policymakers to make things better for South Dakota state government employees,” he says. “We are seen as expert and well-versed in state government employee matters, as we are our members, and each SDSEO member is a South Dakota state government employee.”

The SDSEO is a non-union, private, non-profit organization. It was founded in 1972 by South Dakota state employees for South Dakota state employees. Its only funding is the $10 monthly dues of its members. Being a state government employee does not mean one is an SDSEO member; SDSEO membership must be applied for. The SDSEO conducts outreach and lobbies in favor of the South Dakota state employee, in addition to offering member support.