U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) today urged U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Martin Walsh to protect individuals’ ability to work as independent contractors in the gig economy. The senators’ request follows up on the DOL’s withdrawal of a Trump-era rule that would... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Angus King (I-Maine) last week introduced a resolution that confronts China’s self-designation status as a developing country at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The resolution states that the WTO should reform its special and differential treatment rules... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime supporter of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), today issued the following statement after the Supreme Court overturned a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that would have severely limited future Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) small refinery exemptions, which undermine the RFS, give an... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today heard testimony from stakeholders, including South Dakota cattle producer and St. Onge livestock auction manager Justin Tupper, about their experiences with the cattle market. Thune requested that the Senate Agriculture committee hold this important hearing to help shed... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today introduced a bill to temporarily increase the availability of H-2B visas for the purpose of restoring American forests. The bill would establish an uncapped, but temporary, carve-out of the H-2B program to permit a surge in workers to address a multi-year backlog in forest... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today helped lead a subcommittee hearing on building resilient broadband networks. Denny Law, CEO of Golden West Telecommunications, testified at the hearing and discussed the challenges of deploying strong and resilient broadband in rural areas. In his opening statement,... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the upcoming vote on the Democrats’ partisan bill that attempts to federalize elections and re-write election laws in all 50 states. Thune believes that protecting the right to vote and preserving the integrity of our election systems are essential, but this legislation is nothing more than an attempted power-grab from the left to publicly finance political campaigns and overturn... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today discussed an upcoming subcommittee hearing on building resilient broadband networks. Thune announced that Denny Law, CEO of Golden West Telecommunications, will join him at the hearing to discuss the challenges of deploying strong and... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today discussed his two bipartisan bills that would increase internet transparency while preserving the light-touch approach to regulation that has allowed the internet to flourish: the Filter Bubble Transparency Act and the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act. Thune... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed to hold a hearing on June 23, 2021, to examine the cattle market, including potential manipulation by meatpackers. This hearing announcement follows a letter that Thune sent to Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Boozman requesting... Continue Reading
U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), John Thune (R-S.D.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Unsubscribe Act. The bipartisan bill would require companies to be more transparent about their subscription-based business model and make it easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions once their free or reduced... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) today introduced the Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act, legislation that would protect more than 140 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), including Rapid City, South Dakota, from losing their MSA classifications. Losing this classification could, among other things, harm communities’ access to certain federal funding opportunities and... Continue Reading
