Sen. Kolbeck opts to forgo re-election to third term - Progression of wife’s Parkinson’s leads to decision

On a recent seven-and-a-half-hour drive to a funeral with his wife, Stacey, Steve Kolbeck made the heartfelt decision not to seek re-election for his District 2 State Senate position. 

Although the two-term Senator doesn’t owe an explanation beyond announcing his departure from state government at the end of this year, he said the progression of his wife’s Parkinson’s disease and the growing need to focus on his family needs to take priority.

“We had some really heartfelt conversations on that drive,” Kolbeck said. “Not that she lied to me, but I didn’t fully understand how much was going on, and by the time we got home, it was clear to me that I couldn’t turn my petitions in.”

Stacey Kolbeck was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about a year and a half ago. While the diagnosis initially felt manageable, Kolbeck said it has begun to show more visible signs, making the reality  of it impossible to ignore.

“Some days her thumb doesn’t work,” he said. “Her foot will turn in when she walks. Those are signs it’s progressing.”

Kolbeck said their conversations intensified during the drive home after attending the funeral of his boss’s father. A homily delivered by the priest struck a chord.

“They talked about what kind of person he was, the impact he had, the things he did for others,” Kolbeck reflected. “They never once talked about his job. I remember saying to Stacey, ‘I couldn’t even tell you where he worked.’ That really stuck with me.”

The realization sharpened what Kolbeck had already been wrestling with internally: another Senate term would mean committing to the remainder of this year, all of next year, and the year after that – time he now feels is better spent at home.

“I had signed petitions, I just couldn’t file them,” he said. “I was looking forward to running again. I like the work. I like the people. But I also know I’m needed in a different way now.”

Kolbeck was first elected to the South Dakota State Senate in 2020 after years of public service, including a stint on the Brandon City Council, a statewide term on the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and a multi-year presidency for the Brandon Valley Booster Club Board of Directors. He said serving in government was always rooted in a belief that strong communities require people willing to step up.

“My dad owned a grocery store in Salem for more than 25 years,” Kolbeck said. “He bought it so his kids could work and learn a good work ethic. That stuck with me. If you want a good community, you’ve got to be part of it.”

During his two Senate terms, Kolbeck pointed to several accomplishments, including legislation that modernized vehicle title processing through digital titling, a change he said helped free up millions of dollars tied up in dealership inventories.

“That was a heavy lift,” he said. “It took a lot of coordination across different levels of government, but it was worth it.”

He also described himself as a consistent advocate for the Brandon Valley School District and the growing needs of the district, calling education funding both a priority and a frustration.

“Everyone in the Senate knows that I’m not voting for a bill that will hurt my district. If you have problems in your own district, fix them, but don’t hurt my district,” Kolbeck said.

Now in the final year of his second term, Kolbeck said he remains focused on finishing strong, including pushing legislation to protect elderly residents from cryptocurrency ATM scams and addressing unresolved issues tied to mobile sports betting revenue.

“The elderly population is being targeted for scams more and more and more, and these ATMs, there’s nothing about regulating cryptocurrency,” Kolbeck explained.

Senate Bill 98 to prevent virtual currency kiosk fraud is Kolbeck’s bill.

“It has nothing to do with whether you can buy Bitcoin or not. It has to do with these machines that end up in convenience stores and other places around the state, and you can put cash in, and it’s supposed to give you a crypto. In the crypto world now, there are scammers, and they’re taking that money and there’s no way to find it, so we’re trying to put some bumpers around that. Things as simple as giving a receipt with a transaction so it can be traced, and to lower these scams,” he said.

Kolbeck said the SB 98’s passage largely hinges on how the industry interprets the bill.

“If the crypto industry thinks that we are trying to regulate them, they might throw up some red flags, but we’ve made it very clear that we aren’t. We’re just trying to weed out the scammers,” he said.

His plan to change mobile gambling could also help to supply the state’s financial coffers.

“We have got to get our arms around mobile gambling,” Kolbeck said, equating it to the Wayfair decision that now has leveled the playing field for brick and mortar businesses in the state and online sales from Amazon and the like.

“It’s money that is out there that we’re not collecting,” he said.

Kolbeck said there are over 24,000 online betting users in the state right now, and all are technically illegal. 

“So, it’s a gray area, and we need to get it on the ballot. All of it needs to run through Deadwood, and we need to collect that revenue,” he said.

Kolbeck said this would not be an expansion of gambling.

“We have to catch up to the technology, and we have the numbers, we know the path, and I really, really hope we can get that accomplished,” he said. 

The servers would be located in Deadwood, and would run the apps for online gambling, such as FanDuel. “Then you’ll be able to mobile bet, instead of driving across the border to Iowa to make your mobile bets, and then the money will stay in South Dakota,” Kolbeck said.

Kolbeck, who is the State Director at Xcel Energy, said he also needs to focus on his work.

“I’ve taken my turn – on the booster club board, on the city council and here in the Legislature. I’m glad I did it, but it’s just time to walk away,” he said.