Boss Make You Get Vaccinated? 

Maybe You Can Sue!

HB 1008 – Provide a cause of action for certain employees that are required to receive a vaccination as a condition of employment and to declare an emergency. 
Sponsor: Deutsch (R-Florence)
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/22886  

This bill provides a cause of action, which means you can be sued, for employees that are required to receive vaccinations as a condition of employment.  This applies to the Covid-19 vaccines as well as childhood vaccines that are required to attend public schools in South Dakota.  The Chamber and many other business groups are opposed. 

HB 1008 appears to be stuck as no hearing has been scheduled.  Representative Deutsch is a prime sponsor of 13 bills, approximately half of which deal with marijuana.  Being the prime sponsor of that many bills could be a rather stressful experience; however, he seems to be actively pursuing a potential stress reliever, at least according to the gang that won at the polls last November.

Counties Ask for Sales Tax?

HB 1053 – Authorize counties to issue bonds for certain expenditures funded by a gross receipts tax. 
Sponsor: Representative Ernie Otten (R-Tea)
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/22763 

Just as the title indicates, this bill would have allowed counties to issue bonds for a limited number of projects but would also have allowed those bonds to be paid off using a gross receipts tax (i.e., sales tax; which many people think is plenty gross).

The casual appearance of the title understates the fact that counties are not allowed to collect sales tax under current law and this bill would represent a very significant tax increase of counties adopting the new sales tax.

Bill was amended to limit the uses for the bond proceeds to focus on the jails, treatment centers, maintenance buildings and roads.  The amended version of the bill is up for a hearing on Tuesday February 2^nd. 

When Electricity Isn’t Sold by a Utility??

HB 1093 – Increase the annual fee for certain electric motor vehicles. 
Sponsor: Representative Willadsen (R-Sioux Falls)
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/22809

Electric vehicles are all the rage – a well-contained rage with fewer than 400 of them in South Dakota.  These marvels of the future travel on highways and streets like any other vehicle, contribute to rush hour traffic like any other vehicles, in fact the only thing they don’t do like any other vehicles is pay for the roads they use.  They don’t buy gas, coming close to being un-American.

Last legislative session, a bill was passed that assesses these electric vehicles $50 which is added on to their license plate fees.  HB 1093 will kick that fee up to $250, which is a rough estimate of what the average, regular old petroleum using car pays in annual state gas taxes. 

HB 1093 had its hearing last week which was the final day for the bill.  The House Commerce and Energy Committee sent the bill to the 41^st legislative day, effectively killing it, by a vote of 12-Yea to 1-Nay.

Session’s First Bill on Transgender Students and Sports

SB 46 - Protect fairness in women's sports.
Request of the Governor
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/22957

This bill contains the blanket statement prohibiting anyone from playing women’s sports who does not have a birth certificate noting gender at birth as female.  The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry has remained neutral on SB 46 and has not attended any of the hearings.

UPDATE: Here is the history of SB 46:

• The bill passed out of Senate State Affairs Committee on a vote of 8-Yea to 1-Nay.
• SB 46 passed the full Senate Wednesday on a vote of 26-Yea to 7-Nay.
• SB 46 had a hearing before House State Affairs Committee Wednesday (1/26).  The bill passed out of committee on a vote of 11-Yea to 2-Nay.
• SB 46 was debated on the House floor yesterday (1/27) had a delay maneuver applied.  This delay will last until at least Tuesday February 1^st.

Wanna Bet?

SJR 502 - Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election an amendment to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, providing for wagering on sporting events via mobile or electronic platform.

During the election of 2020, voters approved a constitutional amendment ballot measure approving sports gambling in South Dakota.  During the 2021 Legislative session, it was determined that sports betting would only be done within the city limits of Deadwood (according to another provision of the Constitution) and only done within a casino.  None of this “using a phone or computer from anywhere in the state” and no allowing other bars in the state to “linkup” with a Deadwood casino so bets could be placed from someone’s favorite local watering hole.

Now, comes along SJR 502 which would put yet another amendment on the ballot this time allowing sports betting from smart phones (hoping they are smarter than most bookies) or computers.  These phones and computers would have to be connected to a server in Deadwood, although as written, the servers would not be required to be in a physical casino.

It is important to note that SJR 502, if approved by the legislature, would put the issues of mobile gambling on the ballot for a public vote.  It is scheduled for hearing today (2/01) before Senate Commerce and Energy Committee.  The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry has not taken a position on SJR 502.

Another Bill Changes the Odds

HB 1148 - An Act to authorize sports wagering within a licensed affiliate business.
Sponsor: Rep. Willadsen (R-Sioux Falls)
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/23091/229859

This is the liquor dealers bill that would create a system of sports betting allowing people to place bets from bars and restaurants with a full liquor license in their hometown without having to drive all the way to Deadwood or trust some unseemly internet site which is clearly illegal and not as smart as the phone used to place the bet.

HB 1148 would require bars and restaurants with a full liquor license to be linked to a casino in Deadwood so the bets would be placed according to the current Constitutional requirements with some friendly interruption – which is a bit of a gamble on its own. 

The South Dakota and Industry supported this version of sports betting during last year’s legislative session.  It was a bet that the Chamber and the Liquor Dealers lost.  Ante up again!!

Can Anything Be Done to Help Working People Afford Housing?

SB 53 – Make an appropriation to increase workforce housing and to declare an emergency.
Sponsor: The Committee on Appropriations at the request of the Governor's Office of Economic Development
Link: http://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/23065

Workforce housing is an urgent topic among business leaders and thousands of workers looking for houses or apartments to buy or rent.  A legislative interim committee spent all of last summer studying the need and possible solutions for this problem.

Governor Noem, in last December’s budget address, announced she would be putting $200 million dollars toward workforce housing and wanted to leverage this to $600 million by awarding grants to developments and asking local governments to kick in a third of the proposal and developers to provide the final third.

The funds would flow through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s (GOED) local infrastructure improvement program.  There will be many questions that will need to be answered in the next few weeks but this is the Governor’s plan.  Here is the exact language:

(underlined language indicates language being added to current statutes):

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. There is hereby appropriated from the general fund the sum of $150,000,000 and appropriated the sum of $50,000,000 in federal fund expenditure authority to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) for purposes of increasing housing supply across South Dakota.

Section 2. Funds shall be administered through the Local Infrastructure Improvement Program pursuant to the criteria outlined in § 1-16G-50.

Section 3. GOED’s share of the funding shall not exceed one-third of total project costs, with the remaining portion to be provided by an equal match from a local governmental entity and the project developer.

Section 4. The commissioner of the GOED shall approve vouchers and the state auditor shall draw warrants to pay expenditures authorized by this Act.

shall revert in accordance with the procedures prescribed in chapter 4-8.

Section 6. Whereas, this Act is necessary for the support of state government and its existing public institutions, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

There are advocates for workforce housing that are reluctant to have all of this money going through GOED and are preparing amendments that would split the money between GOED and the office of South Dakota Housing Development Authority. 

The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry will start off this important discussion by supporting SB 53 and the Governor’s vision to address this important issue. 

BUSINESS DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE

Join us in Pierre on Thursday, February 24, 2022

Schedule of Events and Registration Link: https:/bit.ly/3oD5pOR

Thank you for your continued support of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry.