On Wednesday, February 3, at 7:45 AM the SD Senate Local Government committee will take on 5 bills. This is compiled using the agenda at the time of composing this post. Agendas can and do change!
I think the more interesting bill here is the continuation of SB 64, which is a bill that has come out of the city council issues going on in Hartford. Perhaps a legislator should submit a commemoration to Hartford for finding portions of local government codified law that need to be updated.
HB 1003 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise certain administrative functions regarding county government.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Not Opposed
Prime Sponsors: Rep Joshua Klumb (R, Dist 20) and Sen Mike Vehle (R, Dist 20) are the prime sponsors on behalf of the Interim Committee on County Government.
This is a bill I was originally softly opposed to, but now have no opposition to it.
For the most part this bill is cleanup. The bill originally increased the contempt fine County Commissioners can impose on someone from $5 to $25. Commissioners can also put someone in jail for a day, that is already in statute. There was no reason given for this increase, and I really didn’t see why this contempt fine was left on the books. The bill was amended on the House floor to completely get rid the fine and jail-time penalties. With that change I think this is a good cleanup bill.
The amended bill passed the House floor 63-1.
HB 1034 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise certain provisions concerning local government elections.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Support
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Local Government is the prime sponsor at the request of the State Board of Elections.
See my post examining the Board of Elections bills for a look at this legislation. This is basically a good election cleanup bill. It passed through the House without opposition.
HB 1035 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise and repeal certain provisions concerning voter registration, vote centers, and conducting elections.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Support
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Local Government is the prime sponsor at the request of the State Board of Elections.
See my post examining the Board of Elections bills for a look at this legislation. Another good election cleanup bill. There was no opposition to the bill going through the House.
SB 74 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Authorize members of certain governing bodies who are displaced by a natural disaster to continue their term of office.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Bill Van Gerpen (R, Dist 19) and Rep Kent Peterson (R, Dist 19) are the prime sponsors.
This would add a new section of code stating the following:
Any member of a governing body of a county, municipality, school district, township, or special purpose district, who is displaced from the district, county, municipality, township, ward, or precinct from which the member was elected or appointed to serve by flood, tornado, fire, or other natural disaster may continue to serve until the expiration of the member’s term.
I don’t really see a problem with this change. It would be obvious the people in question are not moving by choice. And if it would appear the move would be permanent, hopefully the person in question would have the ethical fortitude to resign.
SB 64 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise the voting authority of an alderman.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Support
Prime Sponsors: Sen Scott Fiegen (R, Dist 25) and Rep Paula Hawks (D, Dist 9) are the prime sponsors.
This bill has had a hearing already. There is an amendment expected in this meeting that was mentioned in the previous meeting. The amendment also has to do with Hartford, and that cities current lack of a quorum.
Here is what I said before the previous hearing and I still stick with now:
This is a bill that shouldn’t be necessary. Yet it is because Hartford Council Chair Doyle Johnson decided it would be OK to vote twice in the absence of the mayor. One was his own vote, then he voted again acting as mayor. It is almost mind-boggling that anyone would try that. So SB 64 adds the following language:
However, the president of the council or vice president of the council shall only vote as an alderman in the absence of the mayor. No alderman may vote as the mayor to break a tie vote.
Again that really shouldn’t be necessary, but if people such as Council Chair Johnson are going to play politics I guess the law has to be changed to specify that one-vote-per-person is the standard.
Other than that this bill has a lot of cleanup and language clarification for statutes dealing with aldermen.
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