U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann struck down a ban on out-of-state contributions to ballot question committees recently passed by voters.

Kornmann found Initiated Measure 24 unconstitutional because it violates First Amendment rights to engage in political speech.

Additionally, Kornmann said the measure violates the Commerce Clause by interfering with the free flow of money between persons from another state and South Dakota committees.

The ruling is a permanent injunction that stops the planned implementation on July 1.

The state must now determine if it will appeal the decision to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Gov. Kristi Noem recently signed several campaign finance bills into law.

House Bill 1189 provides any person who is subject to a Class 2 misdemeanor for campaign finance violations up to seven days to cure the violations prior to having a charge brought against him or her.

House Bill 1092 clarifies reporting requirements for candidates.

House Bill 1143 states all political action committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same person or entity are affiliated and share a single contribution limit both with respect to contributions made and contributions received.

Senate Bill 114 requires any contribution from a person who is an unemancipated minor to be deducted from the total contribution permitted by the unemancipated minor’s custodial parent or parents.

The bills become effective July 1.

On February 28, the South Dakota House of Representatives voted to restrict campaign contributions from minors.

Senate Bill 114, which passed the state Senate unanimously, requires contributions from unemancipated minors to go towards the contribution limit of their parents.

This loophole gained attention during Sioux Falls’s last mayoral election, when a local business owner and each of his five children, ages six to 15, gave the maximum $1,000 to Paul TenHaken’s campaign.

The bill is headed for Gov. Kristi Noem’s desk for consideration.

South Dakotans elected Republican Kristi Noem as their governor over Democrat Billie Sutton and Libertarian Kurt Evans.

With all precincts reporting, Noem won with 51 percent of the vote to Sutton’s 47 percent and Evan’s 1 percent.

Kristi Noem has been a member of South Dakota’s House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011.

A native South Dakotan, she has helped run her family’s ranch in Hamlin County.

The Institute for Free Speech (IFS) will be allowed to distribute analysis of Measure 24 and Constitutional Amendment W without risk of violating the South Dakota law concerning independent expenditures in a political campaign.

IFS challenged the law in federal court and while the judge did not rule the law unconstitutional, he did grant a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from prosecuting IFS.

The analysis is to be distributed electronically and does not urge passage or defeat of the measures.

The Institute for Free Speech is challenging the constitutionality of a South Dakota law restricting the organization’s right to publicize views of ballot measures without extensive reporting and disclaimer requirements.

The organization is asking for permission from a federal judge to distribute an analysis of Initiated Measure 24 and Constitutional Amendment W, claiming that the measures will impact citizens’ First Amendment rights.

South Dakotans will have multiple ethics-related ballot measures to vote on this November.

Constitutional Amendment W, also known as the South Dakota Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment, would create an independent ethics commission, decrease limits on campaign donations, bar gifts from lobbyists to many public officials, and prevent the Legislature from altering or rejecting laws approved by ballot question without returning to the ballot.

More than 51 percent of voters supported a similar initiative in November 2016, but lawmakers repealed it in early 2017, citing constitutional concerns.

Also on the November ballot, Initiated Measure 24, would prohibit contributions to ballot question committees by non-residents, out-of-state political committees, and entities who have not filed with the secretary of state for the four years prior to making a contribution.

The South Dakota Legislature held a one-day special session on September 12 addressing online sales tax measures.

The initial law to collect sales tax from online retailers was passed in 2016, but it was challenged and taken all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This special session was to set an effective date for the law to go into effect.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has called a special session for September 12.

The session will address legislation allowing the state to enforce remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax.

In addition to calling the session, Daugaard will be appointing three people to fill vacancies in the Legislature to ensure the districts are fully represented during the special session.

The South Dakota Legislature adjourned its 2018 session on March 26.

During the 40-day session, lawmakers passed a $4.7 billion budget increasing funding to education, Medicaid providers, and state employees.

Additionally, several measures adding new rules for citizens’ initiative campaigns were passed.

A statewide special election will be held June 5, the same date as the primary elections, on a proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution.

If approved, the amendment will affect Marsy’s Law victim’s rights provisions approved by voters in 2016.

The attorney general’s deadline to prepare a statement, title, explanation, and recitation of a “Yes” or “No” vote for the proposed amendment is March 27.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a bill into law expanding campaign finance disclosure requirements.

House Bill 1003 requires candidates and committees to itemize any contribution received from an entity.

An entity includes corporations, labor unions, and non-profits, as well as other associations not a natural person or political committee.

On December 29, South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs certified the South Dakota Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment as Constitutional Amendment W for the November 2018 ballot.

If passed, Constitutional Amendment W would create an independent ethics commission, would decrease limits on campaign donations, would bar gifts from lobbyists to many public officials, and would prevent the Legislature from altering or rejecting laws approved by ballot question without returning to the ballot.

More than 51 percent of voters supported a similar initiative in November 2016, but lawmakers repealed it in early 2017, citing constitutional concerns.

The group Represent South Dakota met the November 6 deadline for submitting petition signatures to the Office of the Secretary of State to add a constitutional amendment to the 2018 ballot.

The amendment would tighten campaign finance and lobbying restrictions, create an independent ethics commission, and require laws changing the ballot question process to pass a public vote.

House speaker Mark Mickelson also met the deadline to turn in petition signatures for an initiative that would ban out-of-state political contributions for ballot questions, affecting groups such as Represent South Dakota.

The Office of the Secretary of State will conduct a random sampling of the signatures to determine their validity.