The Senate Committee on Legislative Procedure decided to table consideration of a proposed new rule to ban lobbyists from the chamber and adjacent hallways during working hours.

The measure came up for a vote yesterday and the committee voted unanimously to let the lobbyists stay. Lawmakers could decide to reconsider adoption of the proposal any time during the legislative session.

The Senate Committee on Legislative Procedure is considering a new rule to ban lobbyists from the chamber and adjacent hallways during working hours.

The committee is expected to reconvene tomorrow for a vote on the proposal. If adopted, Senate President Pro Tempore, Brock Greenfield, would have the authority to implement the new measure.

Circuit Judge Mark Barnett ruled yesterday that Initiated Measure 22 cannot be separated into different parts, issuing an order blocking the entire law from taking effect. Initiated Measure 22 was approved by the majority of South Dakota voters last month as an act to revise campaign finance and lobbying laws.

There was an existing preliminary injunction on the law’s implementation; however, supporters of Initiated Measure 22 wanted to reinstate portions of the law not challenged by the plaintiffs, such as the provisions dealing with lower caps on campaign contributions.

A South Dakota judge has issued a preliminary injunction on Initiated Measure 22. Initiated Measure 22 was approved by the majority of South Dakota voters last month as an act to revise campaign finance and lobbying laws.

The injunction will give the courts and the Legislature time to consider the measure, which has been widely criticized as being poorly drafted and possibly unconstitutional. Supporters of Initiated Measure 22 are expected to ask the judge to re-instate portions of the law not challenged by the plaintiffs, such as the provisions dealing with lower caps on campaign contributions.

The lawsuit filed in state court to block the government ethics overhaul recently approved by voters will have its first hearing December 8th. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Initiated Measure 22 which became effective last week restricting campaign contributions and gifts from lobbyists.

The group of 24 Republican lawmakers bringing the suit are seeking an injunction to block the law, and South Dakotans for Integrity, the ballot question committee that supported Initiated Measure 22, has filed a motion to intervene.

A group of Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit in state court Wednesday, Nov. 23, to block the government ethics overhaul recently approved by voters.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Initiated Measure 22, which became effective last week restricting campaign contributions and gifts from lobbyists. Gov. Dennis Daugaard says he supports repeal of the measure and he will not include money in his budget for the public campaign finance system called for by the new law.

Citizens of South Dakota voted in favor of lobbying and campaign finance reform. Initiated Measure 22 (IM 22), known as the South Dakota Government Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act, passed by a tally of 52% to 48%.

IM 22 creates a publicly funded campaign finance system and lowers contribution limits as well as new gift limits and revolving door restrictions for former state officials.

Though approved by the voters, the measure may face constitutional challenges in court.

The South Dakota panel assembled by Secretary of State Shantel Krebs to review campaign finance laws showed support of a proposal to allow direct contributions from individual organizations like businesses and labor unions.

The panel met Tuesday, September 6 and will meet two more times before finalizing proposals that will be requested from the Legislature in January. The panel is also expected to propose new campaign finance reporting requirements.

Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group backed by the Koch brothers, launched an aggressive campaign to defeat South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 22.

IM 22 will appear on the November ballot and seeks to revise state campaign finance and lobbying laws to increase transparency.

Americans for Prosperity successfully worked in the past to block other measures requiring disclosure of contributor identities in states including Georgia and California.

The Secretary of State announced the commencement of a full review of South Dakota’s campaign finance laws.

The review comes in the wake of the June 7 primary where it was alleged that several candidates kept campaign finance information secret by using a loophole that allows candidates that do not run in primary elections to go two years without filing any reports.

The proposed changes are expected to be presented in October 2016.

South Dakota Rep. Jim Bolin believes ballot initiatives should require support from voters across the state prior to being added to a ballot. He plans to introduce a bill limiting the number of signatures from the state’s three largest counties by population to no more than 50 percent of the signatures obtained. According to U.S. Census data, those three counties account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s population.

Bolin claims the signatures gathered in the three counties do not always represent the interest of the entire state. Ballot measure sponsors, however, do not want to restrict a voter’s right to be considered qualified based on his or her county of residence.

Sioux Falls City Clerk Lorie Hogstad brought a proposal before City Council to eliminate the $5,000 cap on contributions from political action committees in an attempt to clear up confusion between state and local election laws. While most of the city’s election rules already mirror state laws, the new proposal would simply remove duplicative sections in local election law and refer instead to the state’s provisions. It would also entirely remove contribution limits specific to the city.

Proponents do not believe the proposal will have much impact on city elections, as the elections are nonpartisan and PACs have historically never reached the $5,000 limit.

The proposed changes are slated for council adoption on November 2, 2015.

Photo of downtown Sioux Falls by Jon Platek on Wikimedia Commons.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley recently released a statement describing a ballot measure to create a publicly funded campaign finance program. The program would allocate monetary credits to voters who could assign them to candidates.

The measure would also lower political contribution limits and create a revolving door provision for certain state officials seeking to become lobbyists. Said officials would be banned from lobbying for two years after leaving office.

Supporters must collect nearly 14,000 signatures to get the measure on the 2016 ballot.

The Legislature adjourned sine die on March 30, 2015, following a veto session where legislators overrode one of three vetoes by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

Two tax-related measures failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote, but a measure to reduce the tax burden on rural electric companies will become law.

Next year’s session is scheduled to begin on January 12, 2016.

Photo of the South Dakota Capitol by Jake DeGroot on Wikimedia Commons.