The Briefing Room
State Chapters => State Politics/Government => Topic started by: Suppressed on January 26, 2018, 06:54:53 pm
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South Dakota GOP uses 'emergency' rules to repeal anti-corruption law
By Gregory Krieg, CNN
Updated 6:45 PM ET, Thu February 2, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/02/politics/south-dakota-corruption-bill-republican-repeal/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/02/politics/south-dakota-corruption-bill-republican-repeal/index.html)
(CNN)South Dakota Republicans on Thursday repealed a historic anti-corruption law approved by voters in a statewide referendum on Election Day.
The measure, which passed with more than 51% backing in November, would have created an independent ethics commission, limited lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, banned officials from joining lobbying firms for two years after leaving office and created so-called "Democracy vouchers" for registered voters to steer toward their preferred candidates.
But state GOP lawmakers said they didn't think voters knew what they were doing.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, signed the repeal bill on Thursday night. In a budget address (http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/06/live-1-gov-daugaard-2017-budget-address/95035042/) delivered after the November referendum, he claimed the public had been "hoodwinked by scam artists who grossly misrepresented these proposed measures."
Republican legislators pushed the bill using an "emergency" clause that allows for the reversal to take effect immediately and now prevents voters from initiating a new referendum campaign in response.
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While this smells, I'm always reminded of how Sarah Palin was sued out of office by nuisance complaints, so reserving judgement till the rest of the story develops, which CNN provides little detail of.
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Updates:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-dakota/articles/2017-04-06/after-repeal-ethics-law-supporters-to-push-ballot-amendment (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-dakota/articles/2017-04-06/after-repeal-ethics-law-supporters-to-push-ballot-amendment)
http://www.plaintalk.net/local_news/article_ef68901c-b5ca-11e7-9abf-676eebdb68aa.html?mode=jqm (http://www.plaintalk.net/local_news/article_ef68901c-b5ca-11e7-9abf-676eebdb68aa.html?mode=jqm)