PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Go to sdlegislature.gov for an updated list of legislative committee meeting agendas, as well as the House and Senate floor calendars, for Thursday, the 25th day of the 2023 session’s main run. Visit sd.net to hear committee and floor actions as they happen or catch up via the archives.
Follow KELOLAND’s Bob Mercer on Twitter @pierremercer for updates throughout the day from Pierre. And check out KELOLAND.com for all the latest news, including legislative reports from Jazzmine Jackson, Eric Mayer, Jacob Newton, Rae Yost and all the others.
FROM THE GRINDER (They’re making laws, not sausage!): Republican Rep. Chris Karr found plenty of support for his HB-1116. The House voted 60-10 on Wednesday for the ban on any state agency or public school paying for or hosting lewd or lascivious content. It also would allow the Board of Regents or the Board of Technical Education or any institution under their control — in other words, the six public universities and the four public technical colleges — from restricting or prohibiting the presence of minors at any program or event. The legislation now moves to the Senate. That could prove to be both a challenge and an opportunity for recovery for its lead sponsor there, Republican Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, who was censured earlier in the 2023 session for inappropriate behavior toward a legislative employee…
Republican Sen. Jim Bolin got no love in his attempt Wednesday to put term limits on the three elected members of the state Public Utilities Commission. They’re the only state-level elected officials who aren’t term-limited (aside from the three members of Congress). He essentially gutted his original proposal of limiting PUC members to two six-year terms; his wholly revised version of SB-171 that the Senate considered said, “A person may not be elected or appointed to the public utilities commission if the person is seventy years of age or older.” That had no wings, either, getting just 12 ayes in the 35-seat chamber…
Republican Rep. Aaron Aylward took another run Wednesday at banks and insurance providers that practice ESG or similar policies (“environmental, social, governance criteria or diversity, equity, or inclusion policies, or any other political, social, or ideological factor”). He ran into a buzzsaw of big-time opposition, such as Karl Adam for the South Dakota Bankers Association and other lobbyists. The House Commerce and Energy Committee put HB-1207 away on a 10-3 vote. He at least got off a good exit line: “I have a feeling the room might clear out when this bill is done.”
