South Dakota Searchlight
Lawmakers on a budget committee have agreed to another tuition freeze for state universities as South Dakota’s legislative session enters its final week and attention turns to the budget.
If the agreement holds, it will be the third consecutive year that tuition has gone unchanged.
The goal is retaining young South Dakotans and supporting workforce development by attracting students from other states, said Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel.
“We can’t grow our workforce organically by producing more people in South Dakota, so we’re keeping our young people in the state, and by doing these tuition freezes, it’s been a great, great benefit to our existing businesses and our people across the state of South Dakota,” said Maher, a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee.
That committee will be busy next week finishing up revisions to the current fiscal year’s budget and finalizing the next fiscal year’s budget. Legislators, who began this year’s session on Jan. 9, will meet Monday through Thursday and then be off until March 25, when they’re scheduled to consider vetoes from Gov. Kristi Noem.
The following are status summaries of bills South Dakota Searchlight is monitoring.
Prison money
The House sent several bills to the governor this week for prison construction costs.
Senate Bill 50 would appropriate $2.42 million of remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act money for water and sewer infrastructure at the site of a soon-to-be constructed women’s prison in Rapid City. The bill would also move other money to prepare for construction, which is estimated to cost $87 million.
The new prison is intended to ease overcrowding at the existing women’s prison in Pierre. Senate Bill 170 would appropriate $5.75 million in state funds for designing, renovating, constructing, furnishing and equipping the expansion of health care services areas at that prison.
Senate Bill 49 would appropriate $10 million in remaining ARPA funds for water and sewer infrastructure at the proposed site of a future men’s prison in rural Lincoln County, to replace the antiquated penitentiary in Sioux Falls. The bill would also move other money in preparation for construction, bringing the total amount set aside for the project to $567 million, in anticipation of a cost expected to push $700 million.
Teacher pay
A bill that would establish a statewide minimum teacher salary and tie that and a district’s average teacher compensation to legislative increases in state aid passed a Senate committee after being amended on Thursday. The amendment would lower the compensation requirement to half of the annual legislative increases. For example, if the Legislature approved a 4% increase, schools would have to increase their average teacher compensation by at least 2%. The bill will now heads to the Senate floor.
However, the House wholly amended a separate bill hours later to revive the version of the teacher-pay bill that passed the House last week. The chambers will try to work out their differences on the bills next week.
Carbon pipeline bills
Some lawmakers are making a final push on a trio of bills they describe as an effort to balance the interests of both opponents and proponents of a carbon dioxide pipeline.
One of the bills, Senate Bill 201, was sent to a conference committee Thursday that will work to reconcile the House and Senate differences, while the other two bills in the package underwent amendments in the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee.
Senate Bill 201 would require the state Public Utilities Commission to overrule county pipeline regulations that are overly burdensome. It would also allow counties to impose a $1-per-foot surcharge on pipelines. House Bills 1185 and 1186 would implement new protections for landowners during surveying and regulate terms of pipeline easement agreements, respectively.
Abortion video
A bill requiring the executive branch to create a video “and other materials” explaining the state’s abortion ban and an exception for the life of the mother passed the Senate on a 31-3 vote Thursday. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk for final consideration.
Some providers have had questions regarding legal care in life-or-death situations since the ban was triggered, and some OB-GYNs are hesitant to provide critical care for fear of legal repercussions.
Concealed carry in schools
The House of Representatives voted 62-8 on Tuesday to send a bill to the governor that would allow holders of enhanced permits to carry a concealed pistol on public school premises after obtaining permission from the school principal.
Future Fund oversight
Responding to recent controversies about a fund controlled exclusively by the governor, lawmakers sent a bill through the House of Representatives on a 69-1 vote Wednesday that would require greater oversight of the spending.
The legislation would require the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to biannually report to the Legislature the name and amount of grants from the fund, the location of the recipients, the research or economic development purpose being funded, the measures used to determine the economic impact, and the number of jobs created or retained.
Gov. Kristi Noem’s uses of the Future Fund last year included $2.5 million for a Governor’s Cup rodeo in Sioux Falls and $5 million for her Freedom Works Here workforce recruitment campaign, which stars her in a series of advertisements.
The bill now heads back to the Senate for consideration of an amendment.
‘Diet weed’
The state House voted 69-1 on Wednesday to ban the widely available, hemp-derived “diet weed” products that induce highs similar to marijuana.
House Bill 1125 targets a wide swath of products. The gummies, vape pens, pre-rolled joints and smokable flowers can be produced using high concentrations of the psychoactive chemicals present in miniscule amounts in industrial hemp, or using synthetically derived versions of those same chemicals.
The bill now goes to the governor.
Banning obscenity on campus
The House concurred in amendments to a bill on Thursday by a 61-7 vote that would ban “obscene live conduct” at state universities. Opponents view it as a veiled attempt to target drag shows. Proponents say they are giving legal teeth to an existing Board of Regents policy. The legislation now goes to the governor.
Blaze pink hunters
A bill to add blaze pink as a legally recognized hunter safety color passed the Senate on Monday in a 32-0 vote. It now goes to the governor.
Reclaiming mines
The Senate agreed 30-3 on Tuesday with the House’s amendments on a bill that would increase the state’s financial protections against some types of abandoned mines.
The legislation focuses on sand, gravel and construction-aggregate mines. Mine operators already have to post a surety, which is cash or a financial instrument the state can seize to clean up a mine if the operator doesn’t complete the work. For the types of mines addressed in the bill, that surety is currently $500 per acre or a statewide “blanket” of $20,000 — amounts that haven’t changed since the 1980s.
If signed by the governor, the legislation would increase those amounts in phases up to to $3,850 per acre and $300,000, respectively, by 2029.
911 phone surcharges
On Feb. 14, a bill to increase funding for 911 call centers by raising phone customers’ monthly surcharge from $1.25 to $2 per line failed to reach the two-thirds majority it needed to pass. However, senators voted on Feb. 15 to have the bill reconsidered at a later date. The bill was amended to include a reporting requirement for 911 call centers’ business activities. It was reconsidered Thursday and passed on a 30-4 vote. It now goes back to the House for consideration of the amendment.
In 2023, the existing surcharge generated about $12.47 million in revenue. With the proposed increase and assuming no change in the number of service lines, the projected revenue is approximately $19.95 million. The surcharge has not been increased since 2012.
SDSU dairy facility
Gov. Noem signed a bill Wednesday repealing $7.5 million in state funding for South Dakota State University to construct a new dairy research and training facility. The original funding bill, which passed in 2021, was intended to support the project, but the university was unable to raise enough matching donations to construct the facility.
Civics center
The Senate Education Committee voted 5-2 on Thursday to support a plan to create the Dr. Nicholas W. Drummond Center for Civic Engagement at Black Hills State University, to “provide undergraduate students with the foundation to succeed as lifelong citizens and future leaders in political, economic, and civic life.” The bill awaits a vote in the Senate.
Landowner elk hunting
A bill that would create extra licenses for South Dakota landowners and their lessees to hunt a female elk every year on agricultural land in areas known as the Prairie Elk Units passed the House on a 57-21 vote. The units include much of the land west of the Missouri River, but not the Black Hills. The bill awaits consideration by the governor.
Statewide child care study
The Senate tabled a bill on Tuesday that would require the Department of Social Services to conduct an in-depth, state-wide study on child care accessibility and costs.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, told lawmakers that DSS committed to providing the information and research in a report without requiring additional funding from the Legislature. Reed intends to use information obtained from the department to inform future legislation.
Creating an Indian Child Advisory Council
A bill that would establish an advisory council to foster conversations and gather data on the overrepresentation of Native American children in the state’s foster care system passed the Senate with a 31-1 vote on Monday. The bill awaits action by the governor.
Creating a public defender office
A bill to establish a statewide public defender office unanimously passed the Senate on Wednesday after being amended to add $3 million in one-time funds to reimburse counties for their current indigent defense costs.
The office would cost $1.4 million annually and would help alleviate the financial burden counties face in providing legal representation to criminal defendants who can’t afford an attorney. Counties would still shoulder much of the burden, with the state office taking on only some types of cases.
The bill now heads back to the House for its consideration of the amendment.
Phonics instruction
A bill allocating $3 million to the state Department of Education to provide professional development for teachers in phonics-based reading instruction passed the House 62-6 on Monday. The bill is skipping a committee hearing and will be heard next in the Senate.
School election dates
A bill that would align school board election dates with primary and general elections was rejected Wednesday by the Senate State Affairs Committee on an 8-1 vote.
Protecting poll workers, election officials
A bill that would have made it a misdemeanor crime to threaten or intimidate a poll worker or election official with the intent to improperly influence an election failed in the House on Tuesday in a 24-46 vote. The decision was influenced by a claim that such incidents don’t happen in South Dakota, yet auditors have said they’ve been threatened and have worried for their safety.
Habitat plates
Gov. Noem signed HB 1119 on Friday, which will create a specialty license plate South Dakotans can purchase to help fund wildlife habitat conservation. She signed the bill during the opening ceremony for the National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic in Sioux Falls.
Free IDs, birth certificates for homeless people
Legislation to help homeless people obtain personal documents is headed to the governor. House Bill 1098, which would allow for a waiver of the $15 fee attached to a request for a certified copy of a birth certificate, passed the Senate 28-5 on Tuesday. HB 1131, which would waive the $28 fee for a state identification card, passed the Senate 27-6 on the same day.
Child support in fatal drunken driving cases
The House voted 69-1 on Wednesday to send legislation to the governor that would require drunken drivers who kill parents to pay child support for the victims’ children.
Fake ballots
Campaign mailers or other election-related materials that reproduce ballots and purport to be “official” would have been illegal if HB 1239 became law. The Senate State Affairs Committee rejected the bill 9-0 on Wednesday.
Grants for loggers and sawmills
A bill lingered in limbo last week that would use remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act money to issue grants for Black Hills loggers and sawmills negatively impacted by the pandemic. The Senate approved it 33-0 on Wednesday, but only with $1 in the bill as legislators on the budget committee investigate whether the grants are a qualifying use of the federal funds.
Voter registration deadline
Despite county auditors saying it could result in fewer South Dakotans voting, a legislative committee endorsed a bill Wednesday that would require voters to register 30 days before an election rather than the current 15.
The bill would also add language into law saying “Only a citizen of the United States may vote in a municipal, county, primary, general, school district or any other election in this state.” It would replace a 30-day state residency requirement adopted last year — which is now widely viewed as unlikely to withstand a legal challenge — with less stringent language saying a voter must have “fixed a habitation” in the state to which they intend to return.
The bill awaits action by the House.
Medical pot for parolees
The House Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill Wednesday that would require parolees and probationers to get additional sign-offs from a health care practitioner to get a medical cannabis card.
Current law on medical cannabis has no prohibitions on access for people on probation or parole, even as steering clear of drugs and alcohol are often expectations for those serving out a sentence of supervision.
Senate Bill 191 wouldn’t bar the issuance of a medical cannabis card for a person on supervised release. It would instead require that the prescribing practitioner certify that the drug is consistent with the patient’s care plan for a debilitating medical condition, that it’s reasonable based on the practitioner’s observations about the patient, and that it’s a better option than alternative treatments. Those certifications would need to be delivered in some form to a court services officer or parole officer.
The bill awaits action by the House.
Medical marijuana laws
Several bills that would alter medical marijuana laws are headed to the governor after gaining final legislative passage this week.
Senate Bill 42 includes several changes to existing medical cannabis law, including adjustments to probation policies for dispensaries that run afoul of regulations. The biggest change, however, would require the names of medical cannabis cardholders to be added to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program. Currently, anyone prescribed a narcotic is listed in that database, used by providers to check for doctor-shopping by addicts.
Senate Bill 43 would increase the state fee for a dispensary license application from $5,000 to $9,000, allow fines of up to $10,000 for misbehaving dispensaries and allow the Department of Health to terminate a dispensary’s license for repeated and serious regulatory violations.
Senate Bill 71 repeals a provision barring law enforcement from inspecting dispensaries, manufacturing facilities, or testing facilities, or from seizing their cannabis.
Meanwhile, Gov. Noem signed SB 11 on Tuesday, which would prohibit a practitioner from referring a patient to a medical cannabis clinic with which the practitioner or an immediate family member has a financial relationship.
Triple juvenile justice aid to counties
The state would triple the amount paid to counties for keeping kids out of the juvenile justice system under a bill approved Thursday by the House. Senate Bill 47, which is headed to the governor, would push the per-juvenile payment for successful “diversions” from $250 to $750.
Stiffer fentanyl sentences
The House voted Monday to send a bill to the governor that would put drug dealers who knowingly sell fentanyl to someone who later dies of an overdose in line for longer sentences.
Social media threats
The House Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 on Monday to reject a bill that would have updated state laws on threats of serious bodily harm or death to law enforcement to include threats made electronically.
Landlords and tenants
Two bills that streamline the process of removing tenants from their homes are on their way to the governor after passing the House this week.
Senate Bill 90 would remove the requirement that landlords issue a non-binding three-day “notice to quit” on tenants before starting an eviction proceeding in court.
Senate Bill 89, meanwhile, adjusts the required waiting period on a notice to vacate from 30 to 15 days for “at will” tenants.
Clemency applications
A bill awaiting action by the governor would change how long inmates sentenced to life in prison have to wait between applications for clemency, such as a reduced sentence or parole. The bill says when such inmates are denied a clemency request, they would have to wait four more years before applying again.
Sex assault evidence
A bill that would make it easier for prosecutors to tell jurors about previous sexual assault allegations in child sexual assault cases passed the House on Monday and awaits action by the governor.
Senate Bill 97, which would have allowed such evidence in adult sexual assault cases, failed earlier in the session.