Legislators, courtesy of the newly passed Initiated Measure 22, you’re about to be hit with Section 31.
Section 31. That chapter 12-27 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:
For the purposes of this section, the term “gift” means any compensation, reward, employment, gift, honorarium, beverage, meal, food, or other thing of value made or given directly or indirectly to any person.
No lobbyist or employer of a lobbyist may make gifts to one person who is an elected state officer, legislative official or staff person, or executive department official or staff person aggregating more than one hundred dollars in a calendar year, nor may a lobbyist or employer of a lobbyist act as an agent or intermediary in the making of any such gift, or to arrange for the making of any such gift by any other person.
The value of gifts given to an immediate family member of any elected state officer, legislative official, or executive branch official shall be attributed to the officer or official for the purpose of determining whether the limit has been exceeded, unless an independent business, family, or social relationship exists between the donor and the family member, subject to approval by the commission in a manner to be promulgated by rule by the commission pursuant to its rulemaking authority under section 40 of this Act.
No person may knowingly receive any gift which is made unlawful by this section. A violation of this section is a Class I misdemeanor.
That mess was just passed into law at the ballot box. And it’s going to cause most legislators to automatically be in violation.
How? Let me provide an example or two.
A female legislator goes to HyVee. She shops sensibly, and purchases a number of items which are part of the HyVee Discount program, gets her .35 cents a gallon off of gas. This happens a few times monthly, so when she gasses up her suburban, she ends up saving a couple of hundred dollars a year. Her husband works for Avera Hospital as a program director, and makes a good salary, but they’re not wealthy. Their son is in football, and they’re quite pleased that he is good enough that he earned a scholarship to attend college, which will help with his ability to attend school.
In what way did legislator X violate the law? Let me count the ways.
Legislator X saved more than $100 in the HyVee Gas Program. HyVee has a lobbyist that they send to Pierre.
Per the new law – “gift” means any compensation, reward, employment, gift, honorarium, beverage, meal, food, or other thing of value made or given directly or indirectly to any person. No lobbyist or employer of a lobbyist may make gifts to one person who is an elected state officer, legislative official or staff person, or executive department official or staff person aggregating more than one hundred dollars in a calendar year.
Because the legislator earned more than $100 in incentives from HyVee, and they have a lobbyists, she’s committed a class one misdemeanor.
Her husband works for Avera Hospital as a program director, and makes a good salary.
Per the new law, “gift” means any compensation, reward, employment…” and “The value of gifts given to an immediate family member of any elected state officer, legislative official, or executive branch official shall be attributed to the officer or official for the purpose of determining whether the limit has been exceeded…”
Because Avera has a lobbyist, and they pay Legislator X’s husband to work there, and they pay him more than $100, she may be guilty of another class one misdemeanor.
Their son earned a scholarship to attend college.
And here we go again.
Per the new law, “gift” means any compensation, reward, employment…” and “The value of gifts given to an immediate family member of any elected state officer, legislative official, or executive branch official shall be attributed to the officer or official for the purpose of determining whether the limit has been exceeded…”
Because Legislator X is a legislator, the act of a son earning a scholarship, combined with the fact Universities have their own lobbyists, here’s another class one misdemeanor that has occurred.
The scary thing is that this law touches nearly any and all legislators in these kinds of ways. And not just legislators. The law applies to elected state officers, legislative official or staff persons, or executive department official or staff persons.
If I’m a car washer in the State of SD Motor pool at SDSU, guess what? That’s an executive department staff person.
This bill was so poorly drafted, it goes beyond reasonable restrictions into making it nigh-impossible for anyone to serve in these offices who aren’t personally wealthy cave dwellers, and represents a constitutional crisis for legislators and elected officials unless and until this mess is fixed.