By the time that you are reading this, we will be half done with the 92nd legislative session.
HB 1069 was the bill to completely repeal Initiated Measure 22 (otherwise known as the “Anti-Corruption Act” passed by South Dakota voters in November) and it once again dominated the conversation this week in Pierre. HB 1069 passed the Senate on a 27-8 vote and Governor Daugaard has already signed the repeal of IM 22 into law. It took the majority in the legislature only seven business days to overturn the votes of over 180,580 South Dakotans. I am reminded of our state motto through all of this that, “Under God, the people rule.” A majority of the legislature did not head these words while voting on this issue.
It is now up to the legislature to come up with replacement measures that will address corruption, ethics, and transparency in our state government. I truly believe making state government work better for all South Dakotans begins with listening to the voters and respecting their will when they approve ballot measures. The majority of the legislature did not do this, so now it is upon us all to come together and pass legislation to uphold the will and intent of the majority of the voters in South Dakota.
There will be many bills discussed during the upcoming weeks to do address the concerns of the people as it relates to corruption, transparency, and campaign finance. Several of these measures I will fight for over the upcoming weeks, including:
Government Accountability Board (Ethics Commission) a. An ethics commission that covers all of state government is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle to rooting out corruption in state government and politics in general. This needs to be a bi-partisan board made up of non-legislators that would function underneath the purview of the Attorney General’s office. Gifting Limits on Lobbyists b. Right now we do not have limits on what a lobbyist can gift to an elected official. There need to be consistent and strong limitations on what lobbyists can gift to elected officials so that we can ensure that legislators are not being persuaded to vote a certain way based on gifts they receive. Campaign Finance Reform c. Campaign finance reform could have the most impact on getting money out of politics and back into citizens’ hands. We need to set stricter limits on how much money can be contributed to campaigns from special interest groups. There also needs to be more broad reporting requirements from groups outside of our state and special interest groups in our state that seek to have an impact on our elections or ballot measures. Did you know under current law once a public official is done with public office, they can walk away with the money in their campaign account and use it for whatever they want? This is simply not right, and I am bringing a bill to fix this very problem. Campaign Finance Ethics Commission d. An ethics commission to oversee campaign finance is important to this process so that there is a strong arm in implementing campaign finance laws and monitoring campaign contributions. It also needs to have the ability to receive anonymous tips and investigate misappropriation of campaign funds and wrongdoing.
IM 22 accomplished many of these things, but that is in the past now. It will now be incredibly important that the legislature work together to accomplish what IM 22 sought to do in creating a state government that is accountable to the people of South Dakota.
The repeal of IM 22 with HB 1069 has brought to light the use of the “Emergency Clause” under Article 3 § 1 of our state constitution. This section gives the voters the right to refer a law enacted by the legislature to a vote of the people unless the laws are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or the act is necessary for the support of the state government and its existing institutions. There have been more bills introduced this session with an Emergency Clause attached to them than in any year I have been in Pierre, and many of them are regarding the initiated measure process. This means that if passed, the bills would not be able to be referred to a vote of the people. None of these bills have a true state of emergency existing to justify completely removing the citizenry from the process. This should be a concern to all South Dakotan’s, no matter your party affiliation.
We will be hosting 3 cracker barrels on Saturday, February 11th. Winner will be held in the statewide ag meeting room at 8:00 AM. Gregory will be held at bowling alley at 10:00 AM. Platte will be at 1:00 PM at the Pizza Ranch. I encourage everyone to attend and ask questions.
As always, I encourage anyone to contact me with questions, concerns, and new ideas on how we can improve South Dakota as we move through the legislative session. It is an honor to be your Senator, and I will continue working hard for all of you and for the great state of South Dakota. sen.sutton@state.sd.us 605-830-5540 District 21 Senator Minority Leader Billie H. Sutton
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