NEW PRISON BILL FAILS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR A SECOND TIME
PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) – The South Dakota House of Representatives was unsuccessful Monday in pushing to reconsider House Bill 1025, which would help fund the incarceration construction fund and move a billion-dollar prison project forward.
Once again, the State House tied 35-35 in its vote to reconsider the bill, forcing it to fail. On Friday, the measure went down by a 34-35 vote, but Rep. Tim Reisch — a former Department of Corrections secretary and proponent of the project as currently slated for construction himself — returned to the chamber Monday.
Though Reisch was a yes, and Rep. Brian Mulder of Sioux Falls flipped to a yes for reconsideration, Rep. Roger DeGroot of Brookings voted against the measure, forcing the tie vote. DeGroot told the South Dakota Broadcasters Association after the bill’s failure that he voted “nay” on accident.
Moments after the vote DeGroot said, “I voted wrong by mistake…I have supported this thing all the way.” End quote
HB 1025 in its original form gave clearance to the remaining funds to be transferred into the incarceration construction fund and begin construction in earnest in Lincoln County. The bill was amended after proponents realized they did not have the two-thirds votes required to push it through.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the measure’s failure.
SENATE PASSES BILL REQUIRING PRIVATE COMPANIES TO OFFER MEDIATION TO LANDOWNERS BEFORE CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS
PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) – On Monday the South Dakota Senate approved legislation requiring an offer of mediation before a utility or pipeline could use eminent domain against a property owner.
Though it never mentions carbon pipelines, supporters say the measure addresses ongoing legislative and landowner concerns about carbon pipeline development.
Senate Bill 198, sponsored by Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, passed 18-17 after a failed vote Friday was reconsidered at Mehlhaff’s request.
“Eminent domain exists right now. It’s a tool that’s used by just about any developer that is doing a public use, our common carrier project throughout the United States,” Mehlhaff said. “Senate Bill 198 puts some preconditions in place before a developer can use them.”
The bill establishes a framework requiring prospective condemnors to offer, in good faith, mediation with property owners before initiating condemnation proceedings.
Developers would need to provide 90 days’ notice, propose mediators, and cover all mediation costs. The PUC would also need to first issue a permit for the project to progress.
Bill opponents said landowners did not ask for the measure. Others talked about what they claimed were abusive tactics that Summit Carbon Solutions used against elderly landowners.
Tensions flared after the final vote when Sen. John Carley, R-Piedmont, attempted to amend the bill’s title.
“Mr. President, I would like to amend the title to, quote, forcing mediation for more abuse of eminent domain,” the senator said.
Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen ruled that the amendment was out of order after a different senator raised a point of order.
While supporters frame the legislation as strengthening landowner protections, critics argue it benefits carbon pipeline developers seeking easements across agricultural land.
The legislation comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding proposed carbon capture pipelines in the region that would transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants for underground sequestration.
The bill would cover all uses of eminent domain by private companies, not just when carbon pipelines are involved.
“I know I’m not speaking for all landowners, but I know I’m speaking for a lot of them because there are a lot of landowners who really support the carbon pipeline,” Mehlhaff added.
The bill now advances to the House for consideration.
LEGISLATURES INVESTIGATIVE POWERS COULD GROW IN 2025 AS LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PASSES SUBPOENA POWER MEASURE
PIERRE, S.D. (Austin Goss / SDBA) – A measure aimed at giving the Legislature’s joint Government Operations and Audit Committee (GOAC) more authority in compelling witnesses and documents to appear before them is on its way to the House floor.
The House State Affairs Committee voted 12-1 Monday morning to send House Bill 1204 to the full floor for further consideration. If adopted into law, GOAC — the legislative committee tasked with investigating potential fraud and abuses in state government — would no longer require the approval of the Legislature’s Executive Board to issue subpoenas. Instead, they would be able to summon witnesses and examine vouchers, documents, and records only by a simple majority vote of their membership.
The measure’s prime sponsor, Rep. Julie Auch of Yankton, told committee members that for most of the state’s history, GOAC was able to make subpoena requests without running them through the Executive Board — the legislative committee that is made up primarily of legislative leadership from each chamber.
“Subpoenas are powerful, and do hold consequences,” Auch said, citing several instances of fraud in state government over the last year as another reason the committee should support her effort. “GOAC needs to ensure to the people of South Dakota that measures have been put in place to correct these thefts and acts of incompetencies, to make sure that they don’t happen again in the future.”
Although past disagreements have occurred between the executive branch and the Legislature over the power to compel witnesses — measures similar to Auch’s have been proposed in both 2022 and 2023 — the Yankton Republican’s push has gained new momentum. Members of the Legislature seem eager to change the law in response to the state’s Department of Revenue’s refusal to allow two key supervisors to testify about a series of frauds that took place within the department over several years.
The Dakota Scout uncovered last year that a former supervisor with the department illegally obtained bank loans on fake titles that she made over the course of several years. The suspect, Sandy O’Day, was not charged because she was deceased at the time the crimes became known to law enforcement. However, two more former Revenue employees faced criminal charges after the Division of Criminal Investigation looked into the O’Day incident.
Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and Motor Vehicle Division head Rosa Yeager did show up to testify before the committee, but were “unwilling to answer any questions,” according to the former GOAC chair. That led to the committee running subpoenas through the Executive Board, which were approved a little over a week after they were requested. The Department of Revenue has since filed a motion to quash the subpoenas, arguing that the information sought by the Legislature in a closed door meeting is part of an ongoing criminal investigation, and thus cannot be shared.
That legal matter, opened up in December, has not yet been resolved, according to a spokesman with the Attorney General’s office.
Though her legislation would not change what has happened in regards to the Department of Revenue, proponents argued that it would remove a layer of politics from the equation.
“This does cause delay when GOAC has to go to the Executive Board and request permission,” said Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, who made the motion to move HB 1204 out of committee. “It all takes time when you have to get permission, issue a subpoena, and then get into the court process… Too much time, under the circumstances.”
The measure had no opponents speak against it. However, Rep. Tim Reisch, a member of GOAC the previous two years and the only vote against the bill in committee, defended the executive branch’s handling of the Department of Revenue scandals fallout and the turnaround of the Executive Board in approving subpoena requests.
“The reason that we could not go into open session was because there were active criminal charges and people under criminal indictment were innocent until proven guilty,” Reisch explained. “It was proper that the full elements of that particular case not be discussed openly.”
HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES BILL REQUIRING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS FOR CARBON PIPELINES
PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) – The South Dakota House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 8-4 Monday to approve a bill requiring environmental impact statements for proposed carbon dioxide transmission facilities.
HB 1228, sponsored by Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, would make environmental impact studies mandatory rather than discretionary for carbon dioxide pipeline permit applications submitted to the Public Utilities Commission.
“This bill is not anti-pipeline,” Hughes said. “It’s a basic due diligence bill that makes an environmental impact study mandatory rather than discretionary on the part of the Public Utilities Commission.”
The legislation would allow the PUC to prepare detailed environmental assessments focusing on water resources, ecology, and effects on adjacent land before permits are issued for carbon dioxide pipelines.
Jeremiah Murphy, representing the South Dakota Stock Growers Association, testified in support of the measure.
“If you were going to purchase a company… you’d do the due diligence. You’d look at everything,” Murphy said. “Before you run that through a section of population, through a section of ag land, through everything else that happens in South Dakota, it should be owed as due diligence to those landowners.”
Brett Koenecke, representing Summit Carbon Solutions, said the PUC already has an effective process.
“The process that’s contemplated under Chapter 49-41B is an adversarial process in which an applicant has to bring an application, a tremendous amount of supporting exhibits, and also file the testimony of expert witnesses,” Koenecke said.
Steve Willard of South Dakota Electric Utility Companies expressed concern about expanding the bill’s application and potential cost increases.
“I would call your attention to 41B-12 (of the South Dakota Codified Laws) , that very first section one, that isn’t limited to the carbon line,” Willard said. “That would affect your gas plants, that would affect the coal plant, that would affect solar and wind beyond 100 megawatts, it affects transmission lines bigger than 115 kV (kilovolts).”
Willard added that applying Chapter 34A-9 to private entities “is a complete leap and entirely different from the purposes of 34A-9. I don’t think it is good public policy for us.”
The committee’s approval sends the bill to the House floor.
BILL ALLOWING TEN COMMANDMENTS, CHAPLAINS IN NEBRASKA SCHOOLS HEARD BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
LINCOLN, NE (AP) – The Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee heard opinions on a number of proposed bills Monday afternoon, a few of which sparked controversy among Nebraskans.
First up was LB 691, a bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every school across Nebraska.
A copy of the religious document would have to be displayed in each classroom of every elementary school in the state, as well as shown somewhere in the building of each middle and high school.
Proponents of the bill, including author Sen. Dave Murman, argued that the commandments have a non-secular and historically significant reason to appear in schools that doesn’t interfere with the separation of church and state outlined in the Nebraska and U.S. constitution.
“The goal of this bill is not to force religion, but instead expose kids to the historical wisdom that inspired our founding fathers like Washington,” he said.
Opponents argue that it would be unconstitutional, saying the values the commandments instill are up to churches and families to teach, not schools.
Debra McKnight, a pastor at Urban Alley, was among several religious figures speaking in opposition to the bill.
“Why do we invest time and money into posting Ten Commandments, instead of buying school supplies?” she said.
A similar bill was also passed in Louisiana last year, which would have made it the first state to enact such a policy. But that bill was blocked by a federal judge who called it unconstitutional in November of 2024.
If the bill were to pass in Nebraska, it would likely face similar challenges.
Another proposal discussed Monday was LB 549, which would allow a school board to employ a chaplain, including in a volunteer capacity, at a school.
Supporters said chaplains in schools would work similar to a counselor, but could also offer spiritual guidance for a variety of beliefs.
Johnny Davis, chief development officer with the National School Chaplain Association, said data shows that certified chaplains make schools safer and provide preventative care.
“Chaplains are uniquely equipped to bridge critical gaps,” he said. “They provide trauma care and crisis intervention which is why they’re brought in by the federal government, local governments after tragedies and crisis’s occur.”
Opponents again argued that the law would blur the line between church and state.
Levi Hand, who was among several testifiers belonging to the Satanic Temple, said he used chaplains from multiple faiths while in the military.
“If chaplains are allowed in schools, then Satanic chaplains in my congregation will have the same right to serve,” he said.
Hand added that students in need may be discouraged from getting help “because they don’t believe a certain way.”
“This bill is not really about student well-being, it’s about forcing religion into public schools,” he said. “Students seeking guidance deserve help from qualified experts, not unaccountable religious figures.”
Other proposed bills heard by the committee included one that would require schools to display the state and national motto, and another that would authorize an optional American flag education program and change provisions relating to the distribution of lottery funds used for education.
The final bill heard was LB 213, which would require the State Board of Education to adopt academic standards on human embryology to science education.
Sen. Rick Holdcroft, the bill’s author, said this would include visual recordings of fetal development, aimed at teaching students how human life starts.
“Students should not know more about the life cycle of a butterfly than they do about the stages of human development,” he said.
Proponents said a non-ideological, objective teaching of human embryology is important to education, while opponents said the legislation seems to address philosophical questions of where life begins, which can be used for political purposes.
Holdcroft said while there’s no specific grade level the curriculum would be taught, it would be up to the Board of Education to decide how to teach the material with age appropriate presentations. Parents could also opt their kids out of the teaching if needed.
IOWA REPUBLICANS BACK A BILL TO STRIP GENDER IDENTITY FROM THE STATE’S CIVIL RIGHTS CODE
DES MOINES, IA (AP) – Several protesters were arrested Monday at the Iowa state Capitol, where shouts of “trans rights are human rights” reverberated throughout the building as Republican lawmakers advanced a bill that would strip the state civil rights code of protections based on gender identity.
Similar bills have been floated in recent years, but this year’s passed two legislative hurdles on Monday with the support of Republicans on the state House Judiciary Committee. All Democrats and one Republican voted against advancing the bill to a vote of the full House.
Several hundred protesters filled the Capitol rotunda to chant and wave rainbow flags and signs denouncing the bill. Critics testifying during the subcommittee meeting said the bill would expose transgender Iowans to discrimination.
“It tells an entire group of Iowans — our neighbors, students, coworkers and family members — that they’re not worthy of the same rights and protections as everyone else,” said Mandi Remington, a county supervisor and activist in eastern Johnson County.
Iowa’s civil rights law protects against discrimination in employment, wages, public accommodations, housing, education and credit practices based on a person’s race, color, creed, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability status.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were not originally included in Iowa’s Civil Rights Act of 1965. They were added by the Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2007, with about a dozen Republicans across the two chambers joining in favor.
The current bill’s supporters say that was a mistake that incorrectly codified the idea that people can transition to another gender and granted transgender women access to spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that should be protected for people who were assigned female at birth.
In a statement, House Speaker Pat Grassley said the full Republican caucus is considering the issue this year after a court decision cited the gender identity protection in civil rights code, threatening recently enacted “common sense” policies meant to protect such spaces.
Most Republican-led states, including Iowa, have restricted sports participation, and a dozen have passed laws restricting public bathroom access.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, he has signed a series of executive orders regarding trans issues. They have barred people from changing the gender markers on their passports, and laid the groundwork for banning transgender people from military service and keeping transgender girls and women out of girls and women’s sports competitions, among other things. Most of the policies are being challenged in court.
Amber Williams, a lobbyist for Inspired Life, which advocates for Christ-centered culture, said the bill would protect women’s hard-earned right over generations “to access spaces designated to protect their dignity, privacy and safety.”
“The bill provides clarity in law, ensuring that sex-based protections cannot be overridden by fluid or subjective definitions of gender,” Williams said.
The Iowa bill would remove gender identity as a protected class and explicitly define female and male, as well as gender, which would be considered a synonym for sex and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.”
About half of U.S. states include gender identity in their civil rights code to protect against discrimination in housing and public places, such as stores or restaurants, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank.
Some additional states don’t explicitly protect against such discrimination, but it is included in legal interpretation of the statutes. But Iowa’s Supreme Court has expressly rejected the argument that discrimination based on sex included discrimination based on gender identity.
If successful, this would be the first time that a state would remove existing, explicit nondiscrimination statutory protections for gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
The current bill would next move to the House floor for a vote. It also would need to advance through the state Senate before Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds could sign it into law.
