Week 3 of the 2017 Session is complete and it gets us a third of the way through the legislative year! It is amazing how fast the time goes, all at one location in Pierre!
I mentioned last week that I would address some of the pending legislation. The topic this week seems to be HB 1069, an act to repeal and revise certain provisions related to campaign finance and to declare an emergency. There are many reasons why I supported the measure.  This particular bill would repeal Initiated Measure 22, which was passed by the South Dakota voters last November by a slim margin.
A judge ruled it is unconstitutional so your legislators are trying to properly legislate what the voters voted for, minus the millions of tax dollars that would be required to fund political campaigns,  which would also require a tax increase. IM 22 sponsors  knew  before  filing the measure that it was unconstitutional, but pushed forward anyhow. Not one of the original sponsors of IM 22 showed up to testify in our committee hearing in support of IM 22! It passed the House 54-13. The Senate will take it up this coming week.
In the interim, we have several bills that have been introduced to address some of the ideas that have surfaced with IM 22.
We are moving into the heart of our calendar now, with many different bills, and topics, to consider. The range of issues include trust laws, Board of Elections recommendations, hunting rights, gun laws and health related bills, to name a few. If you have a particular interest in any one item, please contact me and let me know your thoughts.
I would like to thank Rep Wollman for his past two years of service to the citizens of District 8. He has been in communication with many of you, and we wish him the best in his future plans. We welcome Marli Weise, who was appointed by the Governor to fill Rep Wollman’s seat in the SD House. Marli lives just outside of Madison, and is ready to come out to Pierre and get to work for her constituents in District 8 next week.
As always, feel  free to contact me at Leslie.Heinemann@sdlegislature.gov