PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Legislature failed to override three vetoes from Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday, killing multiple proposals.
The three bills on Monday all failed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto, sending defeats to legislation that would have given lawmakers more control over spending federal aid, allowed pregnant minors to consent to medical care without their parents’ permission and removed old marijuana charges from South Dakotans’ criminal background checks.
The success of the Republican governor’s vetoes on the final day of the legislative session came amid a power struggle between Noem and the GOP-controlled Legislature. Each of the bills lost support from lawmakers after Noem vetoed them last week, showing her sway in the Statehouse.
Noem’s veto of the bill on simple marijuana charges comes ahead of a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana for adults on the November ballot. The bill would have automatically removed simple marijuana charges and convictions from public background records if the violation was more than five years old. The person also would have had to fulfill sentencing and probation requirements and have no subsequent arrests.
Noem objected to the bill, saying it would have allowed someone convicted of marijuana charges to hide their criminal history.
Republican Sen. Michael Rohl, who sponsored the bill, argued that old marijuana possession charges on peoples’ records held them back from finding jobs, getting promotions and joining the military.
“It’s holding these people’s lives back,” he said before the unsuccessful override vote.
Noem also killed a bill that would have required a legislative budgeting committee to approve federal fund spending if it requires a policy change. The governor argued in her veto message that it would have created a complicated process that would be hard to understand and track.
The bipartisan bill was spurred by House Republicans who sparred with the governor this year over who had the authority to spend federal funds as the state deals with a historic influx of money from Congress.
Republican Rep. Rhonda Milstead argued the legislation was “common sense transparency,” but the effort to gain the same two-thirds House majority that passed the bill earlier this month was unsuccessful.
After the vote Monday, nearly a dozen House Republican lawmakers, including several top legislative leaders, signed a letter to Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg calling on him to initiate legal action to get a court to decide whether the governor violated the state’s constitution earlier this year by sending millions of dollars in grants to day care providers despite lawmakers’ objections.
The House also declined to override Noem’s veto on the bill to allow pregnant minors to choose to get prenatal care or pain management medicine. Democratic Rep. Erin Healy, who brought the proposal, said it would have ensured pregnant minors get the care they need, but Noem rejected the idea, arguing the bill “erodes parental rights.”