#ryan maher

Ryan Maher 2014 Comedy Tour Dates

Comedian Ryan Maher 2014 Comedy tour dates and schedule for 2014. Limited amount of shows in United States, Canada, UK, Europe so far. Find the latest tour itinerary, tickets, opening acts this spring, summer, fall and winter in twenty fourteen.

Tour itinerary below…

Ryan Maher 2014 Live Comedy Tour itinerary:

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Ryan Maher 2014 Comedy Tour Dates

Comedian Ryan Maher 2014 Comedy tour dates and schedule for 2014. Limited amount of shows in United States, Canada, UK, Europe so far. Find the latest tour itinerary, tickets, opening acts this spring, summer, fall and winter in twenty fourteen.

Tour itinerary below…

Ryan Maher 2014 Live Comedy Tour itinerary:

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Legislator salaries should rise for the first time in 15 years, top legislative leaders said Monday.

Under the proposal, lawmakers' annual salary would rise from $6,000 per year to $10,000. Newly elected legislators would get the raise next year, while current legislators wouldn't see any increase in their pay until 2017.

Sen. Craig Tieszen said $6,000 was too low, meaning that only wealthy or retired citizens can spend three months each year in the Legislature.

"Does this Legislature reflect the demographics of your district and of the state?" Tieszen asked his colleagues. "The answer is clearly no."

Others agreed. Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, called the Legislature "one of the most expensive hobbies I've ever had," and said he spends about $15,000 per year of his own money traveling around his huge rural district in north-central South Dakota.

Sen. Dan Lederman, R-Dakota Dunes, said a pay increase would help "keep a citizen legislature alive."

"It is a good step for us to try to get the people involved in the process that don't necessarily have the funds or the time," Lederman said.

If you weren't listening to the Senate's floor debate about the proposed ban on texting while driving today, you missed one of the more unusual floor speeches I've heard in my five years covering the South Dakota Legislature. (And that's counting last year's Valentine's Day poetry.)

"I'd like to offer today to the Senate a historical analogy," began Sen. Craig Tieszen, R-Rapid City, as he rose to support the ban. "My analogy is based on historical fact. The literary license is, however, entirely mine. So please join me March 3, 1913. Gentlemen of the 13th Session of the Legislature..."

And then Tieszen proceeded to give a five minute speech, in character as a 1913 state senator, allegedly debating a ban on drunken driving. He proceeded to one by one rebut certain alleged objections to a ban on drinking while driving — objections that all happened to be the same raised in 2013 by opponents to a ban on texting while driving.

Listen to the unique in-character speech here:

South Dakota’s Legislature is halfway toward banning texting while driving.

A ban passed the state Senate Tuesday and now heads to the House, where similar measures have been defeated in recent years.

The 24-9 vote saw lawmakers endorse the argument that texting while driving is uniquely dangerous and worth singling out for a ban.

“Texting and driving is dangerous, it’s deadly and it deserves to be illegal,” said Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell.

Overruled were objections from lawmakers who said the law was unnecessary, because South Dakota already has a law banning careless driving.

“Why are you singling out texting while driving?” said Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls. “All of these issues fall under the existing careless driving law.”

An attempt by Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, to limit the ban solely to the state’s larger cities, was defeated.

Sen. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, said he traditionally opposes safety laws such as those requiring seat belts or helmets. But he said texting bans are different and earn his support.

“If I make a choice to not wear a seat belt, that affects my personal safety. If I make a choice while I’m driving down the highway to start texting, that affects my personal safety, but also everyone who’s sharing the highway with me,” Rhoden said.

This morning, the Senate Republican caucus met in Pierre and elected its leadership  team for the next two years.

Current Majority Leader Russell Olson, R-Wentworth, was reelected by his colleagues for another term leading the caucus; Olson said this election was not contested.

The new President Pro Tempore of the Senate is Sen. Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg. He replaces outgoing Sen. Bob Gray of Pierre, who was term-limited.

Sen. Tim Rave, R-Baltic and the chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, was elected as the assistant majority leader.

There are three whips: Sens. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, and Dan Lederman, R-Dakota Dunes.

Olson wouldn't divulge any details about any of the other elections, saying they were internal caucus races and he wanted to be fair to any potential losers in leadership battles.