A whining press release was issued by the Free-Dumb caucus members that their bills are taking too long to get posted, because bills are being requested by the administration (and introduced by committees or individual legislators). And they think it has reached a crisis:
The South Dakota Freedom Caucus on Monday warned that the executive branch is increasingly functioning as a de facto legislator, citing new data showing that a substantial share of bills introduced in the 2026 session originated not with individual lawmakers, but through executive agencies, boards, and institutional offices.
and..
The issue is compounded by how drafting capacity is allocated at the Legislative Research Council (LRC), which by statute exists to assist legislators but is currently processing executive and agency requests alongside — and in some cases ahead of — legislator-requested bills.
and..
The prioritization of executive and institutional requests is already having concrete consequences for legislators and their constituents, according to (Phil) Jensen. Rep. Josephine Garcia has multiple legislator-requested bills still waiting in the drafting queue this session, including a constituent-driven informed consent proposal affecting blood donation and transfusion practices.
and..
The Freedom Caucus is calling on legislative leadership to adopt clear, written policies that prioritize legislator-requested bills, establish transparent standards for allocating drafting capacity, and ensure strict compliance with the written-request requirements of SDCL 2-7-6.1, Jensen said.
Phil telling us that goofy Garcia is one of the “secret Freedom Caucus” members? Good to know, Because she’s not on the public list.
So, the complaint is that the executive branch – who operates government every single day – is noting items of concern and their legislative load as carried by legislators and committees for LRC is preventing bills from being pushed through – and so LRC is stretched too thin?
What about the bills being requested by freedumb caucus members. Could they be packing the workload? I mean.. Didn’t we need California Carley’s bill to force all auditors to go to a finger and toe ballot counting of elections (SB66 prohibit the use of automatic tabulating equipment and electronic ballot marking systems.), despite it violating multiple federal laws? Or his unconstitutional bill to create a currency based on gold & silver? (SB112). Or he and Rep. Dylan “DJ Jazzy” Jordan’s matching resolutions against economic development (SCR 601 and HCR6007).? Both of which died.
We also have legislation from Free-dumb caucuser Logan Manhart. Re-running a bill that was eviscerated last session for the state to invest in Bitcoin. And Aaron Aylward “urging this state’s congressional delegation to end foreign aid programs.”
Between the admitted members of the freedumb caucus and the secret ones like Garcia, whose latest – HB1169 – is an attempt to put veterinary medicine on the agenda for prescription – there are PLENTY of examples of bills that the members of the press-release caucus didn’t really need to bring.
I’m not going to belabor the point, but if they want to send out “pay attention to me” e-mails to the media complaining about the legislation requests bogging down the legislative research council, they should really take a good hard look in the mirror first.
My frends freedumb is not free! It is verry expemsif!
It’s pretty rich for a group that continues to introduce legislation that generally borders or surpasses the idiotic is quite amazing.
How many times does the same bill load have to get shot down? Recall county commissioners because they looked at me wrong crowd, what ever is popular like 10 commandments? Like the religious service freshly introduced bill? And many more that have nothing to do with state government. Lord help us.
Hey, guidelines are a great idea! How about all legislators have to get their bill drafts in by December 1. Regardless of state, all bill drafting shops are a little thin right now. That’s nothing new. Neither are spectacle bills and resolutions. What is new is the desire of the Freedom Caucus to further politicize and weaponize the LRC by issuing press releases. It is also new that the legislature is using “companion” bills where the same legislation is introduced in both houses. It’s my understanding that’s a practice of the Minnesota legislature, where the young, new LRC director previously worked. That’s fine if there’s a larger legislature with a longer session and a different political culture, but that quickly gums up the works with a smaller legislature that meets for less than 40 days. But either the easy way or the hard way, the young director will learn Pierre ain’t St. Paul, and South Dakota ain’t West Minnesota.