Family Voice Action releases scorecard; penalizes legislators for failing to vote to lock up librarians, voting against child marriage, and if they didn’t want the 10 commandments posted in the welding shop

The far-right religious group Family Voice Action released a scorecard for the 2025 South Dakota Legislative Session today.

And in a reverse of what many South Dakotans believe, they took legislators to task for such things as failing to vote to lock up librarians in jail, and if they voted against child marriage.  Of course, they dinged those who refused to strip money away from Public Schools in the Odenbach voucher bill that was blown away early in the session.  In part..

Explanation of Scorecard

S = A vote in support of our position  O = A vote opposed to our position
Green Bill Title = A bill we supported
Red Bill Title = A bill we opposed Bill titles reflect a layman’s description of the legislation, not their official titles

Education Savings Accounts – HB1020 – An act to establish ESA’s (Education Savings Accounts) in South Dakota

…

 Obscenity Exemptions – HB1239 – An act to remove a current exemption which enables schools, libraries and museums to ignore the “obscenity” and “harmful to minors” laws

Senate Note: The Senate Chamber did not vote on the original text of HB1239. Instead, the bill was “hoghoused” by an unfriendly amendment – this hoghouse vote was used in the Senate scorecard.

House Note: The House Chamber originally voted in favor of HB1239, but later voted in favor of the Senate’s unfriendly hoghouse of the bill. The two votes were combined in the House scorecard, with half weight being given to each vote

 …

60% Vote Threshold – HJR5003 – A resolution, to be placed on the ballot in 2026, asking the voters if they want a 60% threshold placed on future constitutional amendments, rather than the current 50% threshold

Signature Requirements – HB1169 – An act to require that a small portion of signatures be gathered from each senatorial district for future initiated constitutional amendments

Note: After governor Rhoden’s veto of HB1169, each chamber had a “veto override” vote. The original vote on the bill and the veto override vote were combined in the scorecard, with half weight being given to each vote.

10 Commandments – SB51 – An act to require the placement of the 10 Commandments in each public school classroom and require the inclusion of the 10 Commandments, Constitution, and other historical documents in public school curriculum Senate Note: SD Family Voice Action did not endorse SB51 until after it had left the Senate, therefore the bill was not included in the Senate scorecard

…

Marriage Age – SB156 – An act to prohibit marriage for 16 or 17 year olds, even if parental consent was given

If legislators received 100% on this scorecard, they are likely going to have to do some explaining to their constituents at some point.