EXPLAINER: Will lawmakers dig into Kristi Noem, appraisers?

By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota lawmakers are taking a look at a state agency that has been at the center of questions of whether Gov. Kristi Noem used her influence to aid her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license. The Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee will hear from four people involved in an episode that has led to scrutiny of the Republican governor. Noem says she was trying to “cut the red tape” to solve a shortage of licensed appraisers. However, an ethics expert says the circumstances of a meeting Noem held last year suggest she was really helping her daughter get a license.