Speaker of the House Mark Mickelson is pressing forward with his bill that failed during the last legislative session, HB 1200, and instead of making his case to his colleagues, is making his case directly to the people:
2018 IM BQCommContributionProvisions LRCComments by Pat Powers on Scribd
As noted in the Argus Leader:
Out-of-state labor unions, open primary advocacy groups, national payday lenders and Americans for Prosperity, the primary political arm of the Koch brothers, each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting or opposing issues on last year’s ballot.
If they want to continue doing so, South Dakota residents have a right to know who’s footing the bill for all the television ads and campaign mailers, Mickelson said.
and..
Ben Lee, state director of Americans for Prosperity, said the measure would have a “chilling” impact on private donations to the group or to political speech.
“This was or would be a restriction on South Dakotans’ rights to free speech and association,” Lee said.
And where individuals feel comfortable donating to political advocacy issues now, they might choose not to do so in the future if they felt their boss or family member of a different political view might find out.
We’re back at the point where we decide which side of the double edged sword we want to fall on once more. Do we want to stop millions from pouring into the state to gin up ballot measures in South Dakota that no one was really asking for, as well as the millions to fight them?
And if that’s the case, do we want to do it at the expense of our Constitutional freedoms?
That makes the question a far more difficult one. And maybe it’s not the question we should be fighting, as opposed to the one of how easy it is to get things on the ballot in the state.
Right now, for the 2018 election, there are 5 ballot measures currently circulating, with fifteen more that are being prepared for the ballot. As noted on the Secretary of State’s Website, this is the electoral mess that we’re currently facing for 2018:
2018 Ballot Measures – Currently Circulating
Potential 2018 Ballot Measures
NOTE: The version of the measures posted along with LRC comments are not necessarily the final versions and could be subject to change by the sponsor. By law, the sponsor must present the final version of the measure to the Attorney General.
| Potential 2018 Ballot Measures |
AG’s
Statement |
LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Initiated Measure requiring students to use rooms designated for the same biological sex, and requiring public schools to provide a reasonable accommodation for students whose gender identity is not the same as their biological sex | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, creating a government accountability board, and changing certain initiative and referendum provisions (VERSION #1) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, creating a government accountability board, and changing certain initiative and referendum provisions. (VERSION #2) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, and creating a government accountability board. (VERSION #3) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, and creating a government accountability board. (VERSION #4) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Initiated Measure requiring people to use certain rooms designated for the same biological sex | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Amendment to the Constitution to provide for non partisan elections and a non partisan appointment of the Legislature | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| South Dakota Voter Accessibility, Integrity, and Efficiency Act | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| South Dakota Voter Accessibility, Integrity, and Efficiency, and Automatic Voter Registration Act | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An open primary election shall be held prior to the general election to nominate the office of Governor, the Legislature, and the United States Senate and House of Representatives | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Act to prohibit contributions to ballot question committees by out-of-state residents, political committees, and entities and to establish civil penalties therefor | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Act to increase the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products and to appropriate the revenues (45% Tax) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Act to increase the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products and to appropriate the revenues (55% Tax) | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Act to establish a prescription drug pricing law enabling citizens of the state of South Dakota to pay the same or lower prices for prescription drugs as the prices paid by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
| An Act to revise certain provisions regarding contributions to ballot question committees | AG’s Statement | LRC Comments | Prison Cost Estimate |
Ugh. As if the 2016 ballot wasn’t cluttered and confusing enough. Now it might be worse in a year when it’s already longer due to constitutional officers being on the ballot as well?
If this is what we’re facing after last election, it makes a person want to start a movement that we might call “Don’t sign a damn thing.“
I think one candidate has been saying that for quite a while already.
God forbid you have to spend more than 15 seconds in the voting booth pulling the straight ticket one way or another.
Seriously, how lazy can you be?
Um.. pardon me for asking, but have you ever voted in SD? There hasn’t been a straight ticket vote for over 25 years. And we generally use punch or scan ballots.
Why is he speaker of the house if he is going around his colleagues and legislative body?
I personally think it’s an insult to 104 other legislators. Especially the 69 others who serve with him.
Why even be a legislator if you can’t sell reforms to your colleagues.
It didn’t pass because the bill is a nightmare.
I’m more on Mickelson’s side of the issue than Ben Lee though. But Mickelson has a very poor bill here with a sliver of a good idea.
Who will the next speaker be now that Haggar is gone?
Obviously when the speaker loses faith in his colleagues and goes it alo ne it’s time for a new leader.
My personal concern is slightly different. IRS regulations guarantee anonymity to all donors to 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. Can a state act to deny anonymity guaranteed under federal law, especially when it relates to First Amendment protections?
The fallback position has been attempted in California – that 501(c)(4) donor disclosure must be made to state government just as it is to the federal government (IRS), with state government promising to treat the disclosure as confidential, just as the IRS does. The question is, do you trust state government to keep donor information confidential – especially when a state’s AG might oppose the issue being supported?
Don’t sign the petitions for all these ballot measures: Just Say No
Amen
Thumbs up!
It is extremely aggravating to me that there are so many people who are willing to take away our Constitutional rights of free speech, free association, and privacy.
Do not sign the petitions for any of Mickelson’s initiated measures, and warn everyone you know not to sign them. Shout it from every rooftop!
Change the signature threshold and add geographic qualifiers ! The. End.
^^^ Me.