Political Smokeout

No consensus on key subjects at Sioux Falls forum

There was little consensus on many of the highest profile issues of the 2013 Legislature at Saturday’s final Sioux Falls legislative coffee of the year.

On questions about Medicaid expansion, guns in schools, abortion and texting while driving, the 11 local lawmakers present demonstrated why those issues have been so controversial with collegial but consistent disagreement.

“This is an opportunity for us as a state to be in a leadership position and say, ‘We want to help these people who can’t help themselves,’” said Rep. Paula Hawks, D-Hartford, about expanding Medicaid eligibility to people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty limit.

Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Tea, took a different tack.

“This has got absolutely nothing to do with not wanting people to have health care,” Otten said. “It does have to do with affordability and making sure we keep our budget within our means.”

The “school sentinels” bill to give districts the option of arming volunteer defenders was praised as common-sense and permissive — and blasted as a step in the wrong direction.

“We’re not talking about giving everyone guns,” said Rep. Steve Hickey, R-Sioux Falls. “The conversation is what about the districts that can’t have a law enforcement officer. Is there another person that could be qualified to get in there? I’m in favor of giving the school district that option.”

Rep. Marc Feinstein, D-Sioux Falls, worried that putting more guns in schools would lead to innocent students being shot if there were ever an incident, citing an incident in New York City last year where trained police officers shot bystanders while trying to take down a shooter.

A ban on texting while driving also drew both advocates and skeptics. Rep. Anne Hajek, R-Sioux Falls, said the ban could create “a culture of kids who start driving, who realize you don’t text and drive.” Rep. Mark Mickelson, R-Sioux Falls, said he was having a hard time coming up with arguments “about why someone should text and drive.”

But Otten said the ban would be impossible to enforce, and Rep. Isaac Latterell, R-Tea, suggested it was an example of government trying “to be everyone’s parents.”

A proposal to exclude weekends and holidays from South Dakota’s 72-hour pre-abortion waiting period inspired some of the morning’s sharpest language, with Feinstein quipping that “you don’t get pregnant just between 8 to 5 on weekdays” and Latterell concluding “unequivocally” that “Planned Parenthood does not care about women.”

Saturday’s legislative forum was sponsored by a range of groups including the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the fourth and final of four Chamber-sponsored legislative forums this session, which has two more weeks remaining.

Committee shoots down guns-on-campus bill

A legislative committee shot down a proposal to allow guns on South Dakota’s college campuses Tuesday.

Supporters of Senate Bill 177 said it would uphold the Second Amendment rights of college students and provide protection against a mass shooter.

“These folks are adults,” said Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Sioux Falls. “These are the same folks who have the right to vote, who sign up to protect us in the military.”

He and Rep. Lance Russell pointed to other states, such as Oregon and Colorado, that they said have similar laws.

SB 177 would have forbidden universities and technical schools from “abridging the ability of any person to carry or possess a firearm in accordance with state law.”

But a parade of opponents testified against the measure, saying it was unneeded, unwanted and dangerous.

The director of the Board of Regents warned that the bill was poorly written and could have unintended consequences. It could stop universities from banning guns in laboratories where metal is forbidden, said Jack Warner. It could also make South Dakota universities ineligible to host NCAA tournaments, which require gun bans in arenas.

Representatives of the student bodies of the state’s major universities also testified against the bill. The student governments of Northern State University, South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota all voted to oppose SB 177.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed.

Sen. Jean Hunhoff said she was persuaded to oppose the bill by the opposition of the students, the people who would be affected.

“We have students here who are representing their institutes of higher learning,” Hunhoff said. “They are the ones telling us we do not want guns on campus.”

The committee voted 5-2 to kill SB 177.

Teen driving study applauded, but lawmakers cautious

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.