SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — From building and financing a new prison to school vouchers and an anticipated change in the governor's office, the upcoming legislative session in Pierre promises to command lawmakers' attention in several ways. The session begins Tuesday, and Democrat Erik Muckey of Sioux Falls wants progress on an issue that impacts families well beyond the segment of the state he'll represent. "My hope is that I'm able to deliver on some of the issues that are most critical to my district," Muckey said Thursday. "I can't say enough: we talk about child care left, right and center in Sioux Falls, and I really want us to come to some solutions." Like Muckey, Republican Greg Jamison of Sioux Falls will serve in the House. He's hoping for solutions as well, but he also brings up another wish: for civility. "We used to fight against the Democrats," Jamison said Thursday. "And now we just fight against ourselves. And I just hope we come to a better place so we don't wind up hating each other." Republicans enjoy a towering majority in the state legislature; between the two chambers, there will be only nine Democrats. "I think the real blessing and challenge is folks will talk about the number of Democrats," Muckey said. "What they may not understand in Pierre is that when we do hear about the schisms that are happening in the Republican Party and throughout the state, that there are opportunities for Democrats to work with larger groups." Contractor working on light pole when it fell on I-229 Jamison says that proposed funding for school vouchers has prompted a divide. "Rural Republicans, for instance, and the city guys, and so there is some brewing fight already there," Jamison said. "The prison funding, for instance, so for me I see prison funding ahead of time without borrowing money as great fiscal responsibility." But that's not the only perspective. "There's efforts to, let's not just use all of that money to fund the prison, let's use some of that to fund public broadcasting or libraries or raise teacher pay or do something more and borrow a little money to finish out the prison," Jamison said. However the upcoming session shakes out, one political reality won't change; numbers, and how a side can reach a consensus, will make the decisive differences. "What I know will be a power and a blessing for South Dakota Democrats, though we are nine, there are opportunities knowing the breadth of experience that we bring," Muckey said.