2023 Legislative Report
SDFRW Legislative Committee
3-27-23
The 98th SD Legislative session saw a total of 241 House Bills and 210 Senate Bills during the 38 legislative days which began January 10, 2023, and ended Monday, March 27th 2023 on veto day.
During the 38 legislative days some of the bills that made the news were:
1. The debate on tax cuts which included the grocery tax repeal, property tax credit and a cut in the 4.5% sales tax being cut to 4.2% ended with the sales tax cut being the bill that passed. The tax cut down to 4.2% came with a sunset clause to remove it in 4 years.
2. SB 40 was a bill intended to change the current way the states 2 major parties nominate candidates for the Constitutional Officers and Lieutenant Governor. It moved all of these candidates into a Primary election removing this historical duty of the states elected precinct delegates attending the state conventions of the Republican and Democrat parties. The bill had an amendment that passed on the House floor to take the Lieutenant Governor from the list, leaving the choice to the Governor elect, and leaving all other Constitutional Officers on the agenda of the State Conventions for nomination and vote by the elected precinct delegates for their names to be on the general election ballet. The Senate killed the bill in that form.
3. Eight of the sixteen medical marijuana related bills passed and were signed into law:
a. HB 1053 bans a person who is pregnant or breastfeeding from being certified by a physician to use medical marijuana.
b. HB 1132 adjusts the duties of the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee adding that the committee shall make recommendations regarding the medical and clinical aspects of the medical cannabis program.
c. HB1150 requires a practitioner to certify whether they have previously issued a patient a certification for the use of medical cannabis. It also eliminates a patient’s fee to the state f they are re-applying for a card within a year.
d. HB 1154 clarifies conduct considered acceptable by practitioner as it relates to medical cannabis. The bill makes it a misdemeanor for a practitioner to: Do medical assessments in a place licensed to sell alcohol; Offer discounts, deals or other financial incentives for making an appointment with them; Issue certifications for cannabis while having a financial interest in a cannabis business; Advertise in a medical cannabis establishment; plus more.
e. SB 1 lists conditions which qualify a patient for the use of medical cannabis
f. SB 27 amends the definition of a practitioner and states that tetrahydrocannabinol derived from hemp must be derived either from industrial hemp or be in a product approved by the US FDA
g. SB 134 revises the makeup of the MMOC (Medical Marijuana Oversite Committee)
h. SB 198 allows medical cannabis establishments to maintain certain cardholder data.
4. HB 1080 Help not Harm Bill that banned cross sex surgical procedures and cross sex medical hormone treatment on minors in SD passed.
5. Several Education bills that were highly supported by parents and opposed by the Public-School Education lobby were killed including:
a. HB 1234- An act to provide a voucher for students enrolled in certain grade levels at accredited nonpublic schools.
b. SB 100- An act to establish the stronger families scholarship program for children in foster care, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.
c. HB 1163- An act to prohibit the dissemination of obscene material to minors in a public school or public library.
d. SB 193- An act to establish provisions related to the review and selection of instructional materials in school districts.
e. HB 1166- An act to prohibit the use of state resources in hosting lewd or lascivious content.
f. HB 1233- An act to expand the provision of online education through the SD Virtual School
g. HB 1079- An act to create the Center for American Exceptionalism at Black Hills State University.
6. Governor Noem’s veto of 4 bills were all upheld on the final day of session. Her statements of why she vetoed the bills are:
a. SB 108 would have allowed South Dakotans to consume alcohol underage.
b. SB 129 would have categorized teachers and school employees in the same was as law enforcement officers in instances of assault in their official duties.
c. HB 1109 would have classified marijuana as hemp and jeopardized the clearly expressed will of the people of SD.
d. HB 1193 was an attack on economic Freedom and would have opened the door to overreach by the federal government.
2023 Legislative
Legislative Training
This year our Legislative Committee is putting out a series of pieces of training. Representative Becky Drury is the SDFRW Legislative Liason.
Pictures by Terri Jorgenson
Governor Noem meets with constituents in the Capitol rotunda.
Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch
South Dakota Senate in session
House Majority Whip Representative Rebecca Reiner
South Dakota House in session
Security rounds in the Capitol.
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