South Dakota Politicians attempt to take the power of constitutional amendments from the People

Wow, is all I can say. About two weeks ago the South Dakota LRC finished the review of my constitutional amendments for 2020. Now there are 19 Bills and and 5 Constitutional amendments drafted by legislators to make it more difficult in some cases to impossible in others for a mere citizen to amend the constitution. The worst of which is HJR 1007. It simply deletes the portion of the constitution that allows citizens to initiate constitutional amendments. It isn’t much worse than HJR 1008 which requires that all amendments the voters pass will then require legislative approval. So both completely take the power away from the citizens and give it to congress. Here is a summary of the other meddling with voters choices by Congress and the Senate of South Dakota.

 

From the Argus Leader

House Bill 1004: Would change ballot measure petition size and fonts

House Bill 1005: Would change the phrasing on the ballot to outline what a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ vote would mean

House Bill 1006: Sets out timeframes for the Legislative Research Council director to assess proposed measures, return comments and impact statements

House Bill 1177: Requires that a petition circulator’s name, phone and email be made available to those considering petition forms

House Bill 1196: Requires the submission to the state of an affidavit with detailed information about each petition circulator as well as additional information about paid circulators presented on petition forms

House Bill 1201: Adds to the ballot names of ballot measure petition sponsor, number of signatures collected by him or her, compensation received for running campaign

House Bill 1203: Authorizes the secretary of state to enforce laws

House Bill 1216: Restricts the amount out-of-state donors can give ballot measure campaigns at $100,000 per election cycle

House Bill 1275: Requires signature gatherers that live in districts where signatures are gathered to collect at least 5 percent of petition signatures in each of two-thirds of the state’s Senate districts

House Bill 1282: Requires a disclaimer in large-scale campaign advertisements if out-of-state donors contribute to campaign

House Bill 1302: Prohibits the payment of petition circulators and makes violation a Class 2 misdemeanor

House Bill 1304: Allows for challenge of petition gathering deficiencies

Senate Bill 9: Requires a fiscal note for ballot measures and constitutional amendments

Senate Bill 10: Says that if two approved measures conflict, that with higher support takes effect

Senate Bill 11: Allows initial approval to submit a ballot question proposal 6 months before circulation could start

Senate Bill 13: Requires Legislative Research Council director to file fiscal note for measure if he or she believes it could impact revenues or expenditures

Senate Bill 77: Requires additional financial disclosure for ballot measure committee

Senate Bill 124: Creates a Class 5 felony for those who forge signatures, conspire to submit forged signatures

Senate Bill 128: Requires ballot question committees to fundraise for or against a single ballot question

 

Resolutions that would also need voter approval because they amend the constitution:

House Joint Resolution 1004: Strikes Marsy’s Law from state Constitution

House Joint Resolution 1006: Requires referred amendments to be single subject

House Joint Resolution 1007: Eliminates process for voters to refer constitutional amendments

House Joint Resolution 1008: Requires legislative approval for voter-initiated amendments

Senate Joint Resolution 1: Requires 55-percent approval to amend Constitution at the ballot

 

Contact your representatives and tell them not to vote to take away our constitutional right of citizens access to lawmaking.