SD Searchlight-Makenzie Huber
PIERRE — A South Dakota state representative was reassigned to different committees recently after tempers flared over a committee’s seating arrangement, in an episode one lawmaker described as “unprofessional and juvenile behavior.”
Republican leaders removed Rep. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, who chairs the Freedom Caucus, from the House Education Committee following his role in an upheaval on Friday stemming from a new seating arrangement created by the committee chair, Rep. Lana Greenfield, R-Doland.
The argument about the seating arrangement delayed the committee by more than 15 minutes, said House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish.
Odenbach told members of the media at a leadership press conference Thursday that Jensen and some other members of the House Education Committee planned “an effort to disrupt the committee,” which is “unacceptable behavior.” Republican leaders pulled the members from the room to “deal with the issue out of sight” of the public.
Jensen was the only lawmaker involved who was reassigned.
Jensen lost his vice chairmanship of the House Education Committee last year for introducing a bill to defund the Huron School District, which he filed in reaction to a tip about the district’s bathroom policy regarding transgender students. The 18-year lawmaker served on the education committee in the House or Senate for nearly a decade.
Jensen alleged to South Dakota Searchlight that the Republican legislative leadership has “declared war on conservatives.” He said the new seating arrangement isolated conservative legislators from each other. House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, “threw” Jensen and other members of the committee “under the bus” by siding with the chair, Jensen alleged.
“The speaker chose to support an out-of-control chairman who instructed committee members last session to stop talking with each other and forbid them from using their phones to communicate on how they were voting on bills,” Jensen said in an emailed statement, adding that he and some other members were treated “as children.”
In a statement to South Dakota Searchlight, Hansen said he is “responsible for maintaining order” in the Legislature.
“I cannot allow any member to disrupt official proceedings over a seating assignment,” Hansen said. “This incident had nothing to do with conservative principles — principles I have consistently led on throughout my time in the Legislature. It was about addressing unprofessional and juvenile behavior, and I handled it appropriately to preserve the integrity of our institution.”
Greenfield, a former teacher, said a “new seating chart for a new year” makes sense.
“It’s nice to visit with other people, and sometimes it’s good to hear different perspectives,” Greenfield said. “As a teacher, it was something I normally did.”
Legislative rules allow committee chairs to determine seating charts, Odenbach said. He added that lawmakers who don’t agree with the rule should have tried to change the rules at the beginning of the legislative session or discussed the matter with the chair.
“The way you definitely don’t do it is try to disrupt the proceedings of the House of Representatives,” Odenbach said.
Odenbach said he doesn’t “expect anything else like that to happen” this legislative session, which began earlier this month and continues until March.
New committee assignments
House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, announced several committee reassignments recently:
Rep. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, was reassigned from the Education and Transportation committees to the Local Government and Taxation committees after he argued about seating assignments in the Education Committee.
Rep. Liz May, R-Kyle, was reassigned from the House Appropriations Committee to the Agriculture and Natural Resources and Education committees, which Odenbach said was due to a recent accident on her ranch that limited her ability to devote the extra time required of Appropriations Committee members.
Rep. Julie Auch, R-Yankton, was reassigned from the Agriculture and Natural Resources and Local Government committees to the House Appropriations Committee to replace May.
Rep. Jeff Bathke, R-Mitchell, is deployed overseas as a member of the South Dakota National Guard, so he was removed from the Taxation and Transportation committees.