My (much-delayed, due to other news) story in today’s paper looks at an amusing incident in the final week of the legislative session — when senators ganged up on an innocuous bill brought by Sen. David Omdahl and “pecked (it) to death.”
If you’re so curious, you can listen to the exchange here:
Below, after the jump, is a partial, edited transcript — taking out some of the filler:
Rep. Steve Hickey’s effort to penalize repeat speeders was defeated in a Senate committee Wednesday — but he’s getting used to it.
The 4-3 defeat came after a House committee also defeated the same bill — to which Hickey responded by using a parliamentary maneuver to force it to the full House.
Now he’s planning on counting his votes and possibly trying the same maneuver in the Senate.
His proposal would put speeding back on the “points system,” whereby drivers are assessed points on their license for moving violations. Currently drivers receive points for offenses such as drunk driving or running stop signs, but speeding is explicitly excluded.
Hickey would give drivers between one and three points for every speeding offense, depending on how fast they go. Drivers have their license suspended if they receive 15 points in 12 months.
He pitched it as a way to crack down on repeat speeders who collect 10 or more tickets per year, and save lives by preventing accidents.
“The state has a duty to revoke the driving privilege of those who persist in driving dangerously,” Hickey said.
The Senate Transportation Committee disagreed. Several members worried the proposal would sweep in all drivers and not just the worst speeders. Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls, said he’d prefer to change the current reckless driving law to allow police to give repeat speeders more serious tickets.
After the bill’s defeat, Hickey said he’d consider using the “smokeout” maneuver which successfully revived the speeding bill in the House to bring it to the Senate floor as well.
“We’ve got to count our votes,” Hickey said. “We’re not done talking about it this year.”
It was near Edgemont last spring when Sen. Mark Kirkeby drew his pistol and broke the law.
“I did not hesitate,” Kirkeby told a legislative committee Monday morning. “I pulled over, I did pull out my pistol, and I did put her out of her misery. I thought it was the humane thing to do. I had no idea that I violated the law.”
The recipient of Kirkeby’s gunshot was a badly injured deer, struck by a pickup truck. And while no one has ever been prosecuted for it, euthanizing an injured deer isn’t allowed under current South Dakota law.
Until, at least, House Bill 1144’s probable passage.
That measure, which passed the Senate Transportation committee Monday morning, would legalize the euthanization of deer and antelope that have been “seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident.”
If the full Senate approves the bill, the House will have to accept Senate amendments or negotiate a compromise. If both houses approve the same version of the bill, it would then go to Gov. Dennis Daugaard to be signed into law.
“What sense does it make to prevent the euthanization of a crippled deer?” asked Rep. Peggy Gibson, D-Huron. “House Bill 1144 does not require anyone to really do anything that he or she is not willing or capable of doing.”
A representative of the state Department of Game, Fish & Parks was present but did not testify for or against the bill. The representative, Tony Leif, said the department would endorse Kirkeby’s actions shooting the injured deer — and those of Reps. Charlie Hoffman and Betty Olson, who also admitted to euthanizing injured wildlife.
The committee amended the bill at Sen. Jeff Monroe’s request, removing the petty offense for people who fail to report a euthanized deer.
Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls, voted no, saying the measure seemed fine for rural areas but dangerous in or near cities.
South Dakota’s Legislature is halfway toward banning texting while driving.
A ban passed the state Senate Tuesday and now heads to the House, where similar measures have been defeated in recent years.
The 24-9 vote saw lawmakers endorse the argument that texting while driving is uniquely dangerous and worth singling out for a ban.
“Texting and driving is dangerous, it’s deadly and it deserves to be illegal,” said Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell.
Overruled were objections from lawmakers who said the law was unnecessary, because South Dakota already has a law banning careless driving.
“Why are you singling out texting while driving?” said Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls. “All of these issues fall under the existing careless driving law.”
An attempt by Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, to limit the ban solely to the state’s larger cities, was defeated.
Sen. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, said he traditionally opposes safety laws such as those requiring seat belts or helmets. But he said texting bans are different and earn his support.
“If I make a choice to not wear a seat belt, that affects my personal safety. If I make a choice while I’m driving down the highway to start texting, that affects my personal safety, but also everyone who’s sharing the highway with me,” Rhoden said.
The ban on texting while driving now heads to the House, where it’s expected to face a tough fight.
South Dakota senators endorsed a statewide ban on texting while driving Friday.
Advocates including law enforcement, insurance companies, the state’s cities and victims of car crashes where texting was involved all urged adoption of the ban in more than an hour of sometimes-emotional testimony.
“It is time something gets done so maybe another family won’t have to go through this pain,” said Janean Christensen, whose husband Jon was killed by a texting driver.
That driver, Justin Iburg, 22, of Mitchell, also testified before the committee, urging passage of the ban.
After passing the Senate’s transportation committee, the ban now heads to the full Senate, which must pass or defeat the proposal by Wednesday afternoon.
Opponents said the exiting careless driving law was enough to handle drivers distracted by text messages.
“I think enforcement is difficult,” said Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls. “I think we have an existing careless driving law that we need to boost the fine on and stop it that way.”
But Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell, and other supporters said enforcing the texting ban isn’t the point of the proposed law.
“I’m going to be the first one here to admit it’s going to be difficult to enforce,” Vehle said. “To me, it’s not about tickets, it’s not about fines. It’s about a culture of not texting and driving.”
Five members of the committee voted to pass the texting while driving ban: Sens. Bob Ewing, Shantel Krebs, Larry Lucas, Ernie Otten and Vehle. Two voted no: Omdahl and Sen. Jeff Monroe.
Amid a chorus of praise, South Dakota’s criminal justice reform package passed the state senate Thursday by an overwhelming margin.
Only two senators voted against the bill, Senate Bill 70. It’s a complex package focused on finding alternative sentences for nonviolent offenders. The goal of the bill is to slow or reverse the growth in South Dakota’s prison population, avoiding the need for building new prisons.
The bill, proposed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard with support from the state attorney general and Supreme Court, has bipartisan backing in the Legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Russell Olson said the bill was both tough and smart on crime.
“I’ve had good friends tell me they can’t believe I’m carrying this bill, and this is soft on crime,” he said. “I disagree.”
Democratic senator Jim Bradford, D-Pine Ridge, got emotional when urging people to support the bill.
In his 14 years in the Legislature, Bradford said, “to me, this is the most outstanding thing that’s been done, bar any.”
The only votes against the bill, which passed 31-2, came from Sens. Tim Begalka and David Omdahl, both Republicans. Neither senator spoke against the bill during the floor discussion.
SB 70 now heads to the House of Representatives.
Members of the South Dakota Legislature’s transportation committees praised members of a task force that studied teen driving, but stopped short of endorsing their four proposed bills Thursday morning.
The task force, which included legislators, state officials and members of the public, studied South Dakota’s high teen driving crash rate and recommended four laws: banning young teens from using cell phones while driving, limiting the passengers they can carry, requiring more instruction before they can drive on their own and creating a statewide driver education coordinator.
Read an introduction to the proposed changes here.
Lawmakers were enthusiastic about the task force’s work, praising the research they gathered and the uncompensated time they spent gathering it.
But the description of the bills by Sen. Craig Tieszen, R-Rapid City, didn’t win any immediate converts.
Most lawmakers on the committee said simply that they’d keep an open mind about the legislation until they see the specific language.
The bill that would ban teen drivers on instruction or restricted permits from using electronic devices while driving drew particular skepticism.
Sen. David Omdahl, R-Sioux Falls, said he has doubts about the enforcability of bans on mobile phone use.
Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Tea, agreed. But Otten said that while he’s opposed to blanket bans on texting while driving, he’s open to such a measure for teen drivers as a special case.
Thursday was simply an informational hearing for the teen driving task force. Tieszen and Rep. Peggy Gibson, D-Huron, will now gather co-sponsors for the bills and formally introduce them. Then they’ll be assigned to a committee and have a formal hearing and vote.
Dems hit Omdahl, Stalzer: Two postcards from the SDDP attacking legislative candidates David Omdahl (running against Democrat Tom Cool for District 11 Senate) and Jim Stalzer (running with fellow Republican Christine Erickson against Democrats Darrell Solberg and Jim Laron for District 11 House).
Keep sending me postcards. I’ve got more than I can possibly handle, and it’s still not nearly enough.
A very unusual postcard: How to describe this postcard by District 11 Senate candidate Tom Cool? The rear is pretty typical boilerplate, except for another instance of incorrect apostrophe use (it’s instead of its) and the choice of the worst font in the world. But most of the criticism of Comic Sans is that this inherently un-serious font is routinely used for serious things, and I’m not sure if that criticism applies here given the front of the postcard.
Which, wow. Definitely unusual. There’s a ship labeled the “Dakota Teaparty,” some jetsam labeled “public education,” “Social Security” and “Medicaid”, a penguin (Cool’s campaign mascot) in a lifeboat, and some toy bears on the ship, one of whom is apparently named “Roscoe” being told that he “can’t throw out everything.”
It’s basically a sort of live-action miniature, Photoshopped political cartoon.
It’s the oddest postcard I’ve ever seen.
Is it enough to get voters’ attention and help Cool beat GOP nominee David Omdahl?
(Also, what’s with the Social Security mention? The Legislature doesn’t have anything to do with Social Security.)
District 11 Senate candidate David Omdahl has what may be the most unique candidate business card I’ve seen. On the front is his campaign logo. On the back, rather than the usual contact information, is a table of unit conversions. Sure, these days you can just type “1 cubic foot in cubic inches” into Google and get the answer, but there’s something about this reference table that’s positively charming. Omdahl has a background in engineering, which could explain his interest in the unusual measurement-filled card.
Now if only he could have ALSO managed to get some sort of contact information — a phone number, an email address or a website — onto the card, too.
Omdahl is running against Democrat Tom Cool for the Senate seat being vacated by Todd Schlekeway. Here’s Cool’s campaign website; here’s Omdahl’s campaign Facebook page.
Lean, finely textured political blogging by Argus Leader reporter David Montgomery. Follow his regular updates on Twitter at @ArgusMontgomery. Email at dmontgomery (at) argusleader.com. Call at 605-331-2318.
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