Latest news with #GOAC
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislature grants investigative committee expanded oversight
Sen. David Wheeler, R-Huron, speaks on the South Dakota Senate floor on March 4, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) PIERRE — After a tumultuous year of government corruption scandals, legislation expanding the authority of the South Dakota Legislature's investigative oversight committee is headed to the governor's desk. The Government Operations and Audit Committee, known by the acronym GOAC, is tasked with investigating potential fraud and abuses in state government. The committee issued subpoenas last year and earlier this year ordering state department leaders to answer questions about alleged crimes by former state employees, after a string of corruption cases announced by the Attorney General's Office last year. Under current law, the subpoenas required an extra sign-off from the Legislature's Executive Board before they could be issued. The legislation would remove that extra sign-off requirement and allow the committee to conduct investigations outside of its public meetings. Yankton Republican Rep. Julie Auch, who introduced House Bill 1204, said that for most of its history GOAC could make subpoena requests without the Executive Board's blessing. Rep. Tim Reisch, R-Howard, spoke against the bill on the House floor. CONTACT US '1204 feels like a power grab to me,' Reisch said, adding that more lawmakers involved in the investigative process and deciding to issue a subpoena is beneficial. Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, told lawmakers during the bill's Senate State Affairs hearing that the investigative committee 'is the most important thing the Legislature has created.' He added that he doesn't have concerns about the committee abusing subpoena powers, because it's a joint committee of the House and Senate that inherently requires consensus among members of both bodies. Huron Republican Sen. David Wheeler agreed. 'I think GOAC recently has shown that it is responsible with that authority,' he said. The bill passed the House in a 36-34 vote but was tabled in the Senate because the concept was amended into Senate Bill 176, which passed both chambers. Senate Bill 176, introduced by Wheeler, would expand the authority of GOAC to conduct investigations before the committee meets or have a third party conduct the investigation and issue a report to the committee. Currently, the committee has to meet to conduct any interviews or investigations. 'It's hard to do that at one time with 10 people there,' Wheeler told lawmakers. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate and 58-12 from the House. Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, was one of the dozen lawmakers to challenge the expansion. He called the bill unnecessary in a text message to South Dakota Searchlight after the vote. 'I don't like the trend of turning our interim Legislature into the 'gotcha politics' and constant witch hunts that they do in Congress,' Mortenson said. 'GOAC has an important role, but I worry that we may be getting a little carried away.' If signed by Gov. Larry Rhoden, the bills will become law on July 1. Attorney General Marty Jackley filed at least five cases against former state employees last year, for allegations ranging from faked food-service health inspections to $1.8 million of embezzlement from a state department. In response, Jackley supported a package of four bills that would expand the investigatory authority of the state auditor, strengthen the Board of Internal Controls, institute mandatory reporting requirements for state employees and penalties for failing to report, and establish protections for whistleblowers. All of the bills have been delivered to the governor for his consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislature's investigation panel could get more power
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Legislature's committee that looks into problems within state government would no longer need permission to issue subpoenas under a proposal that is moving forward at the state Capitol. The House State Affairs Committee on Monday recommended passage of House Bill 1204. The full House of Representatives will consider it Tuesday afternoon. A new task force on prisons clears a Senate committee Its prime sponsor, Republican Rep. Julie Auch, wants to reverse a 2018 law that requires the Legislature's Government Operations and Audit Committee to receive clearance beforehand from the Legislature's Executive Board. That's an unnecessary step, according to Auch. 'It needs to be taken care of, managed, and move on,' she told the House panel. The 2018 law was in response to then-Sen. Stace Nelson requesting that GOAC use its subpoena authority as part of investigating the GEAR Up scandal. The legislation to add the Executive Board's approval came from then-Rep. Jean Hunhoff and then-Sen. Deb Peters, who were GOAC's chair and vice-chair at the time. The state Department of Revenue last year resisted subpoenas that GOAC members issued for Revenue Secretary Mike Houdyshell and another official to testify. The subpoenas have since been reissued for a GOAC meeting that will be held after the 2025 legislative session ends March 31. Houdyshell didn't testify against the bill but responded to a question about why he wouldn't testify. He said there was an ongoing investigation that prevented him as a lawyer from disclosing details to the legislators. GOAC has been looking into various state-government scandals that surfaced last year, including in the state Department of Revenue's motor-vehicle division. Republican Rep. Jon Hansen called Monday for the House committee to endorse Auch's legislation. He is the House speaker and co-chair of the current Executive Board. Requiring the Executive Board's approval adds time, provides an opportunity for state officials to lobby Executive Board members, handcuffs GOAC and brings an additional level of politics to the process. 'That all takes time – too much time under the circumstances,' Hansen said. A former House speaker, Republican Rep. Spencer Gosch, said it is 'appalling' that a legislative committee would ever have to subpoena someone. 'I hate that we even have to do this,' he said. Republican Rep. Karla Lems, the House speaker pro tem, described Auch's bill as 'the final tool' needed. 'It's giving us that extra piece to do the job,' Lems said. The one 'no' vote came from Republican Rep. Tim Reisch, who served on GOAC the past two years. 'The executive branch was very forthright,' Reisch said, defending Revenue for not openly discussing the case because the people accused were presumed innocent until found guilty. Reisch argued that the Executive Board acts on behalf of the Legislature during the nine months that lawmakers aren't in session and said he doesn't want the Legislature to surrender that authority by allowing GOAC to issue subpoenas on its own. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
