Latest news with #SenateBill201
Axios
09-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Colorado governor aligns with Big Tech
Gov. Jared Polis rose to prominence and made his millions as a tech entrepreneur, so it's no surprise to lawmakers that he repeatedly sided with the industry this legislative session. Why it matters: The governor used his veto pen and political influence to kill a series of bills that received wide support in the Legislature this year. The common denominator: They would have imposed new restrictions on tech companies, as the Chamber of Commerce noted. Catch up quick: His veto pen struck Senate Bill 86 despite winning approval in the House and Senate by more than 2-to-1 margins. The legislation called for tougher regulations on social media companies to protect children. A veto warning led to the demise of a bipartisan Senate Bill 201 that would have required online platforms to verify ages before showing sexually explicit material. House Bill 1287 targeted social media platforms and prohibited algorithms designed to extend minor users' engagement. Polis expressed concern about Senate Bill 318, which would have imposed new guardrails on artificial intelligence, and it died just days after its introduction. His influence also led lawmakers to neuter a bill putting tighter regulations on ride-hailing services, like Uber and Lyft. What he's saying: In conversations with lawmakers and his veto letter, Polis made clear he believed additional regulations would stifle innovation and "unduly [infringe] on the speech, privacy and liberty rights of all users." Between the lines: Polis is a Democrat, but often takes a libertarian point of view in supporting market-based outcomes. This ideology helped drive his decisions on the tech bills, lawmakers say. "I think he wants Colorado to be a place where tech companies can thrive," said Kouri Marshall at Chamber for Progress, a technology interest group opposed to the new regulations. "We are looking for the executive of the state to stop these bills and allow us to go forward." The other side: State Sen. Lindsey Daugherty (D-Arvada) sponsored two of the bills the governor opposed. She said lobbying efforts against the measure were overwhelming from the tech industry and Polis. "We fought as hard as we could," she lamented. What we're watching: Technology advocates want Polis to use his veto powers again to reject House Bill 1122, which effectively bans autonomous trucks by requiring an operator to ride along. Polis' administration testified against the bill.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regulators deny Summit's CO2 pipeline application
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The latest attempt to route a CO2 pipeline through South Dakota has ended in a defeat for the company. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday denied the permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions. Commissioner Kristie Fiegen and commission chair Gary Hanson voted for the denial. Commissioner Chris Nelson voted no. The denial was without prejudice, which means Summit can file another application in the future. Summit submitted the application in November, after South Dakota voters had rejected Senate Bill 201. It attempted to state that a PUC permit overrides any local regulations. The passage of SB 201 last year led to significant turnover in the legislative elections last year and brought a stronger anti-CO2 membership to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That in turn led to passage this year of House Bill 1052 that says CO2 projects can't use eminent domain to force their way across people's properties. The passage of HB 1052 then led to Summit asking the state commission to suspend the schedule and put the application on hold indefinitely. That position later changed. On Tuesday, Summit attorney Brett Koenecke repeated that Summit was willing to accept 12 months. Summit has received approval for the pipeline from other states. Landowners attorney Brian Jorde requested the denial. He told the South Dakota commission on Tuesday that Summit has no way to get the line from Iowa into Lincoln County and no way to get the line to North Dakota through McPherson County. Koenecke said Summit still believes there is a chance to reach agreements with landowners along the South Dakota portion of the route. But, he noted, 'I think the price of poker has gone up considerably.' Said commission chair Hanson, 'I don't see the possibility of an indefinite suspension.' He told Koenecke, 'You're between a rock and a hard place.' Koenecke said there are people — 'lots of them' — who support the proposed pipeline. 'Why can't you let it play out?' he asked the commissioners. 'Let's find out if this is possible. Let's find out.' Jorde, the landowners attorney, said Summit doesn't plan to refer HB 1052 to a public vote. 'It's like watching a slow car crash,' he said. Commissioner Fiegen made the motion for denial. 'The application is not ready to go forward,' she said. 'The current route in my view is not viable.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Prison task force plans to take public testimony
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The agenda is out for the first meeting next week of the group that will recommend what direction South Dakota should head on a new men's prison. The Prison Project Reset task force, appointed last month by Gov. Larry Rhoden, is scheduled to gather on the morning of Wednesday, April 2, for an 8 a.m. tour of the current State Penitentiary and Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls that the new prison would largely replace. State Supreme Court hears NOPE case Tuesday After a lunch break, the group will tour the state government-owned site between Harrisburg and Canton in Lincoln County, where the state Department of Corrections had planned construction of the new prison. The group will meet for a second day on Thursday, April 3, starting at 8 a.m., at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance building in Sioux Falls, located at 1600 W. Russell Street. The members are scheduled on that second morning to receive an overview of South Dakota's current DOC facilities and four presentations before breaking for lunch. Starting at 12:30 p.m. on April 3, the group plans to take public testimony. The group's chair, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, is in charge of deciding the duration of time each person can testify. 'My hope is that I don't have to be too restrictive,' Venhuizen told KELOLAND News on Wednesday, March 26. 'I will ask testifiers to try to stay at ten minutes or so, and not to repeat prior testimony. We should have a couple hours and I want to be sure everyone is heard.' Venhuizen said written comments and materials can also be submitted for distribution to the committee. Emailed comments and materials can be sent here. How we got here In her December 2021 budget address to the Legislature, then-Gov. Kristi Noem referred to a study that showed South Dakota had some $600 million in Department of Corrections needs. She suggested that state lawmakers start setting aside funds to meet those needs. In response, during the 2022 legislative session, the state incarceration fund was established. In February 2022, Gov. Noem announced the appointment of Kellie Wasko as state secretary of corrections. Wasko began on March 7 of that year, and DOC officials worked several years developing the plan for a new men's prison. In October 2023, Noem's office announced the purchase of 300 acres of farm land in Lincoln County from the state Office of School and Public Lands. But in 2024, the Legislature passed and Noem signed into law Senate Bill 201, dealing with pipelines. SB 201 was referred to a statewide vote and was rejected in all but one of South Dakota's 66 counties. Just as significantly, a dozen incumbent lawmakers who had voted yes on SB 201 during the legislative session lost in the June 2024 primary elections. That turnover brought in a new crop of legislators who hadn't been part of the previous plan to set money aside for a new prison. Then Noem resigned as governor in January, with Rhoden automatically moving up from lieutenant governor. Secretary Wasko meanwhile raised eyebrows among lawmakers when she revealed that ongoing operational costs for the new prison would be significantly higher. All of that led to the House of Representatives deadlocking on House Bill 1025 that originally called for authorizing construction of the new men's prison and transferring $763 million to the Department of Corrections to pay for it. An attempt to keep HB 1025 alive by amending it to only transfer $148 million into the incarceration fund also failed. A local group calling itself Neighbors Opposing Prison Expansion aka NOPE Lincoln County meanwhile had sued state government, claiming due process wasn't followed in choosing the proposed site. The South Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments in the case earlier this week. How the Rhoden administration responded Gov. Rhoden then issued his first executive order establishing the Prison Project Reset panel on February 27. The order called for the group to deliver its recommendations and propose legislation to the governor by July 15. Rhoden told news reporters that he plans to call a special legislative session on July 22 regarding the matter. Rhoden appointed the following people to the prison task force: Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, Sioux Falls, as its chair. Yankton Police Chief , who has been with the Yankton Police Department since August 1998. Minnehaha County Sheriff , who served in the Sioux Falls Police Department from 1973 to 1997, when he was sworn in as Minnehaha County sheriff. Minnehaha County State's Attorney , who took office in January 2021 and has served in various public roles as a lawyer since 2011. Tiffany Wolfgang, CEO at Southeastern Behavioral Health Center in Sioux Falls since 2024 and previously director at South Dakota Division of Behavioral Health Services in Pierre. Jane Wipf Pfeifle, a retired state Seventh Circuit judge based in Rapid City. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Pierre. Rep. Jon Hansen, Dell Rapids, attorney. Rep. Erin Healy, Sioux Falls, philanthropy officer. Rep. Joy Hohn, Hartford, professional pilot/farmer/business owner. Rep. Greg Jamison, Sioux Falls, commercial real estate broker associate. Sen. Chris Karr, Sioux Falls, business valuation analyst/financial consultant. Rep. Jack Kolbeck, Sioux Falls, key account manager, Beal Distributing. Sen. Steve Kolbeck, Brandon, Xcel Energy principal manager for South Dakota. Sen. Mark Lapka, Leola, farmer/rancher. Rep. Karla Lems, Canton, family-owned agri-businesses owner and manager. Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, Pierre, retired, former director of state Grain Warehouse Division. Rep. Brian Mulder, Sioux Falls, managing director at Volunteers of America-Dakotas. Rep. Scott Odenbach, Spearfish, attorney and real estate managing broker. Sen. Ernie Otten, Tea, retired home builder. Rep. Tim Reisch, Howard, retired South Dakota Dept. of Corrections secretary, retired South Dakota adjutant general, former Miner County sheriff. Sen. Jamie Smith, Sioux Falls, real estate agent and former teacher. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SD's 100th legislative session is in the books. Here's what bills lived and died in 2025
PIERRE — The 100th annual convention of lawmakers, which concluded Thursday, was laden with political and historical subtext. A Republican supermajority, emboldened by President Donald Trump and led by a lieutenant governor who took over the state's highest office for former Gov. Kristi Noem early in the session, pushed a gamut of conservative legislation. That included bills affecting gun rights, voting, education, property rights and policies involving transgender people. Democrats brought proposals aimed at child care, deepfake technology and repealing capital punishment. Meanwhile, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden had his own wins and losses, with a temporary property tax fix earning legislative support and a property rights-focused Republican body shooting down a proposed prison project. The South Dakota Legislature processed 489 bills, 44 commemorations and 38 various resolutions during its 38-day run. Here's a look at some of the major bills that made it to the governor's desk — and those that didn't — this year. Lawmakers passed House Bill 1052, a bill prohibiting companies from using eminent domain to acquire land for the construction of pipelines carrying "carbon oxide." This restriction prevents Summit Carbon Solutions, an Ames, Iowa-based developer with plans to build an $8.9 billion liquid carbon dioxide pipeline, from using eminent domain — the right to take private property for public uses, with compensation — in South Dakota. Rhoden signed the bill March 6. More: Rhoden sides with landowners, signs bill blocking CO2 developers from using eminent domain The bill's success is a reversal of the Legislature's attitude toward carbon dioxide pipeline projects from just one year ago. State lawmakers had passed Senate Bill 201, legislation that would have eased the way for Summit Carbon's plans in South Dakota. But the law was challenged through the state's referral process, and voters overturned the bill during the 2024 general election. A number of South Dakotans launched and won political campaigns, while ousting several incumbents, on a property rights platform. This grew the support for an eminent domain reform bill in the Legislature. Lawmakers found themselves divided on a years-long plan to build a $825 million modern prison facility on Lincoln County farmland. The bill would have moved about $182 million from the state's general fund to an incarceration construction fund, an appropriation meant to fill a funding gap for the state Department of Corrections project. After the bill died on a 34-35 vote, there was an attempt to shuffle $148 million to the prison fund for future use, but that also was narrowly rejected. Rhoden later created a prison project task force to reassess the state's plans and possibly consider new locations for the facility. The task force meets April 2 and has until July 15 to make its recommendations. South Dakota's property tax payments have climbed by hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade, according to state Department of Revenue data, and homeowners are taking the brunt. In response, Rhoden pushed Senate Bill 216, which aimed to cap individual taxing districts and school capital aid budgets from increasing property taxes due to capital growth or construction by more than 2% through 2031. It also would have limited cities' and counties' yearly property tax increases at 3% even if assessments rise above that level. An iteration of Rhoden's bill passed the Senate but died in the House after needing just one vote to clear the chamber. An amended version later raised the property tax growth in the state to 3% across the board over the next five years, which Rhoden signed Thursday. Lawmakers brought more than 20 bills on property tax this session, with Rhoden's the only one to be made law. Rhoden vetoed an amended House Bill 1132, a proposed child care law that would have raised the federal poverty line for child care eligibility from 209% to 300% explicitly for people who work at least 30 hours per week at a licensed school daycare program, center or family home providing child care. The South Dakota governor wrote in a Wednesday statement that his reasoning for blocking the legislation was because it would "shift South Dakota's child care assistance program away from its core mission." He also explained he killed the bill over its fiscal aspects, since it lacked an appropriation to cover the cost of the program's expansion. This was the first bill Rhoden vetoed as governor of South Dakota. Erin Healy, House Minority Leader, called Rhoden's argument that the state would have to increase its budget "premature," as the state does not have a waiting list for child care assistance. Several bills pitched by Attorney General Marty Jackley that centered on whistleblowing, government corruption and certain crimes were mostly well-received by the Legislature and passed with few changes. Some of the legislation was drafted as a response to alleged embezzlement and corruption crimes committed by former state employees, including one case where an employee purportedly circumvented her workplace's oversight measures to defraud the state's Child Protective Services program for $1.8 million. More: Attorney General Jackley submits seven bills for 2025 legislative session: What are they? Here's a list of those bills: SB 58 revises provisions related to human trafficking, prohibits the obstruction of human trafficking enforcement. SB 59 revises provisions relating to the delivery, possession with intent to deliver, and possession of unauthorized articles in a state correctional facility. SB 60 expands the access and investigatory authority of the state auditor. SB 61 modifies the authority of the Board of Internal Control. SB 62 establishes mandatory reporting requirements related to improper governmental conduct and crime. SB 63 establishes protections for state employees who report improper governmental conduct and crime. The nine state House and Senate Democrats found a number of their bills jettisoned by the state's Republican supermajority, and there were several bills related to social issues that proved a thorn for the party, particularly in comparison to previous years. Senate Minority Leader Liz Larson of Sioux Falls managed to steer a bill on deepfakes, or AI-manipulated media that can be used to generate edited and false images of real people, to Rhoden's desk. The bill makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to disseminate a deepfake to influence an election in the state. Rhoden had yet to sign it as of Thursday. Here are some other Democrat-led bills that passed the Legislature and were signed by the governor or still await his signature. HB 1072 modernizes provisions relating to water development districts. HB 1074 modifies the individuals eligible to sign an affidavit of homelessness for purposes of obtaining a free copy of a birth certificate. HB 1075 modifies the persons eligible to sign an affidavit for proof of homelessness for purposes of waiving the fee for a non-driver identification card. HB 1099 modifies the community paramedic endorsement. HB 1196 updates the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act to include provisions related to virtual currency and notice requirements. SB 170 authorizes the South Dakota State Brand Board to enter a memorandum of understanding with any Indian tribe for the investigation of cattle theft. SB 193 allows an applicant to have an interpreter present during the driving portion of a driver license exam. The 100th legislative session was one that saw a few bills targeted at policies affecting transgender South Dakotans. This included a "bathroom bill" that prohibits transgender people from using a bathroom that does not match their biological sex, which Rhoden signed into law. More: SD lawmaker has 'no regrets' over demotion for bill targeting Huron schools, trans youth A similar but unsuccessful bill that would have required that birth certificates and certain official documents reflect biological sex was short a single vote of securing a majority. Rep. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, also introduced a bill to defund the Huron School District over a transgender bathroom policy, but he pulled the bill after backlash within the state and Legislature. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Legislature: Bills that passed, failed during 2025 session
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Bill 1052 on CO2 pipelines passed. Now what?
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The decision now facing Gov. Larry Rhoden of whether to veto House Bill 1052 or allow the proposed ban on eminent domain for CO2 pipelines to become law is something that wouldn't have happened just a year ago. Kurtenbach leaves as CEO of Daktronics But a lot has changed in the past 12 months, triggered by the Legislature's passage of a very different approach last year that wound up being referred to a statewide vote and then rejected in 65 of South Dakota's 66 counties. Here's a look at what's transpired and what's yet to happen. The passage of Senate Bill 201 last year led directly in the 2024 elections to significant turnover among lawmakers. More than a dozen Republican incumbents who voted for SB 201 lost in primary contests, while many Republican incumbents who voted against SB 201 won primaries. That led to a major shakeup in November when the Republican caucuses for the House and Senate met to elect leadership for the 2025-2026 term. The new House Republican leadership — Speaker Jon Hansen, majority leader Scott Odenbach, speaker pro tem Karla Lems and majority assistant leader Marty Overweg — all had opposed SB 201. Likewise in the Senate, where Chris Karr was chosen as the chamber's president pro tem and Carl Perry was picked as assistant majority leader. Both had voted against SB 201. The one exception was majority leader Jim Mehlhaff, who had voted for SB 201. The turnover was further reflected in how 1052, whose prime sponsor is Lems and lead Senate sponsor is first-year Republican lawmaker Mark Lapka, fared this year versus how House Bill 1219 did a year ago. Hansen's 2024 attempt to prohibit eminent domain for CO2 pipelines failed 7-6 in the House committee. When he tried to get the House to debate it, his attempt failed 32-36. This year, 1052 sailed through its House committee hearing 10-3, then cruised through the full House 49-19. At its Senate hearing, 1052 received a 7-2 endorsement. The 23-12 vote for it Tuesday in the full Senate however was one yes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a governor's veto. Summit has applied to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission for a permit to construct a pipeline through eastern South Dakota that would collect CO2 from various ethanol manufacturing plants and pipe the gas to central North Dakota, where it would be buried. The South Dakota segment would be part of a line that also serves ethanol producers in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. The commission has scheduled an evidentiary hearing to start Wednesday, August 13, and continue for five weeks, concluding on Friday, September 12. The commission must reach a decision no later than one year after Summit's application was filed November 19, 2024. That means 1052, should it become law, would take effect on July 1 of this year and be in place before the evidentiary hearing begins. Summit reportedly has about 49% of the voluntary easements from landowners along its proposed route in South Dakota. An amendment to 1052 from Republican Sen. David Wheeler failed in the Senate on Tuesday 14-21; it would have allowed Summit to use eminent domain once it had a state permit and had secured 75% of voluntary easements. A comparison of the two roll-call votes showed that Republican senators Larry Zikmund and Randy Deibert voted for Wheeler's amendment and then, after the amendment had failed, voted for 1052. Wheeler's amendment was more restrictive than one that had been prepared for Republican Sen. Stephanie Sauder. Her amendment would have set the voluntary easements threshold at 67%, but it wasn't offered for consideration. A company called Gevo wants to build a sustainable aviation-fuels plant at Lake Preston. The proposed Gevo plant would link to the Summit CO2 line and last fall received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a $1.46 billion guaranteed loan. Gevo broke ground at the Lake Preston site in September 2022. Rhoden, who was lieutenant governor at the time, and First Gentleman Bryon Noem participated in the event, while then-Gov. Kristi Noem issued a news release hailing the proposed project as 'the largest economic investment in South Dakota history.' The South Dakota Board of Economic Development, which functions as an arm of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, approved a $12,294,059 tax break for the project a few weeks later. The following May, a separate arm of GOED known as the South Dakota Economic Development Finance Authority took steps toward approving a private activity bond issue for up to $187 million of qualified solid waste management facility expenses for the Gevo project. Not much has happened at the Lake Preston site. Whether the federal conditional loan commitment remains in effect isn't known, now that President Trump has returned to the White House this year. A question about that sent to Gevo's public relations office last month hasn't been answered. A spokesperson for Summit said the pipeline wouldn't be affected by any federal funding cuts. The legislation, should it become law, could affect a half-dozen cases in South Dakota's state courts. The South Dakota Supreme Court last year ruled it was premature for the justices to reach a decision on whether the CO2 pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions qualified as a common carrier, whether CO2 was a commodity, and whether the company therefore could claim eminent domain for the proposed route of the pipeline. Wrote Justice Janine Kern, 'As SCS's counsel acknowledged before this Court at oral argument, the classification of CO2 as a commodity when it is being transported and sequesteredunderground is a novel question of first impression. Here, the record is simply devoid of any indication that CO2 is being used in this context as an 'article of trade or commerce' or being sold as an 'economic good.' Instead, it appears from our review of the record that the economic item of value at play here may be the tax credit generated by the sequestration of the CO2, a determination which is driven by federal energy policies.' Justice Kern noted that, unlike some other states, 'The Legislature of South Dakota, however, has been silent on this particular subject. On the basis of an undeveloped record regarding pricing terms and business structure, we are unwilling to make such a significant determination, particularly one that is heavily bound up in policy considerations. On the limited factual record before us, SCS has not demonstrated, as a matter of law in these summary judgment proceedings, a reasonable probability that the CO2 being transported and sequestered in the case will be put to any productive use.' The legislation — and the broader issue of landowner rights vs. CO2 pipelines — has already greatly reshaped the leadership and the direction of the South Dakota Republican Party central committee. Dan Lederman of Dakota Dunes didn't seek re-election as state GOP chairman in 2024 after six years in that position, in part because he had become linked to Summit Carbon Solutions. Lederman is listed as a senior advisor for LS2 Group, a Des Moines, Iowa-based lobbying firm that has represented Summit and Energy Transfer Partners, which operates the Dakota Access crude-oil pipeline. Then-state Sen. John Wiik was elected as the South Dakota Republicans' new chair, but he didn't seek re-election this year. He too had voted for SB 201. Instead three candidates ran to replace Wiik, and the winner last month was Jim Eschenbaum. He is a Hand County Commission member from rural Miller and chaired the group that successfully referred SB 201 to a statewide vote and kept it from become state law. After its new leaders were chosen, the South Dakota GOP central committee then passed a resolution supporting passage of HB 1052. Elected as vice chair was Janet Jensen of Rapid City. She is married to Republican Rep. Phil Jensen, who recently was elected as the new chair for the South Dakota Freedom Caucus, a group that organized at the 2022 Republican state convention. The Freedom Caucus issued a news release on June 29 that year calling for a special legislative session on abortion. It has since issued many news releases aligning itself against CO2 pipelines and with landowner rights. The Republican party's new secretary is state Rep. Tina Mulally. She was treasurer for the ballot measure committee that worked to overturn SB 201. Elected without opposition as South Dakota GOP secretary was Starla Russell of Hot Springs. She is married to a former state senator, Republican Lance Russell, who is now the Fall River County state's attorney. The new Republican officers Jensen, Mulally and Russell replace vice chair Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, treasurer Brett Koenecke and secretary Marilyn Oakes. Fitzgerald voted for SB 201. Koenecke, a member of the May Adam law firm in Pierre, represents Summit Carbon Solutions. He had succeeded another lawyer at the May Adam firm, Justin Bell, as state GOP treasurer. Bell now lobbies for Summit as well. On the pro-CO2 pipeline side, the 2025 registered-lobbyist listing shows nine people representing Summit Carbon Solutions; eight representing various ethanol producers whose manufacturing facilities would connect to Summit's proposed line; four for the proposed GEVO airplane-fuel plant that also would connect to the proposed line; one for the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and four for Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce. On the anti-CO2 pipeline side, the 2025 registration listing shows two people representing South Dakota Farmers Union; three representing Dakota Rural Action; and four representing South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
