Jensen For Senate

Legislative update – Week 4                        Representative Kevin Jensen

The 99th session of the legislature is flying by. We have complete 17 days and this week we will move past the half way point. Last Wednesday was the last day legislators could introduce bills and Thursday was the last day to introduce committee bills. The House has introduced 258 bills and the senate has introduced 220. With only 35 members, the senate has introduced almost twice as many bills per person. 

We also have 8 Joint Resolutions ‘Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election a constitutional amendment,’ 5 were in the house and 3 in the senate.  Once an amendment to the constitution has been voted in, it is almost impossible to remove. The Constitution is the basis of how government functions. There are very few Constitutional amendments placed on the ballot in recent years that actually belong in the Constitution or had anything to do with the operation of the government and how it functions. To a certain degree, it appears some organizations with the most money have figured out that our Constitution is for sale and open to almost any idea that  cannot pass through legislative action, where it belongs. The language in the original constitution was carefully crafted and vetted to stand the test of time. The proposed amendments they are trying to send to the ballot are all flawed and should never make it out of the legislature.

Sometimes we have a bill that tests the procedures of a committee and even the rules on the floor. I am the Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and we had one of those this week. HB1099 seeks to expand the scope of practice of optometrists by adding some procedures currently only allowed to be done by ophthalmologists.  I have always found it interesting that scope of practice for many professions is left in the hands of lay people in the legislature instead of oversight boards actually practicing in those areas. Last year we heard a similar bill asking for 9 restricted procedures to be approved for optometrists, this year the bill narrowed it to 6 procedures. When one member of the committee is absent we are left with an even number of members present. After 3 different motions failed in committee we finally sent the bill to the floor with no recommendation. This does not happen very often. The first vote on the floor for this bill is not about the subject matter of the bill itself. The first is to find whether the majority of the members in the House want to hear the bill, which is referred to calendaring the bill.  On Friday a majority did approve putting HB1099 on the debate calendar for this week. The ophthalmologists and the SD Medial Association opposed the bill, they believe some of the procedures are too invasive and allows for surgeries and injections that are beyond the training of an optometrist. 

I want you to keep an eye on a highly ‘precedent setting’ bill. SB201 was introduced by Senator Crabtree on the last possible day for an individual to file a bill. The prime sponsor in the House is Will Mortenson. Both Crabtree and Mortenson are leaders in their respective houses. When an eleven page bill gets introduced this late and we are in the busiest weeks of the year it is easy for many legislators to miss the detail; of course that is often the strategy of dropping a bill at this time. It does not matter if you approve or disapprove of the CO2 or any other type of pipeline, the following section of the bill should frighten everyone. The language here is taken directly from the bill ;

 " Section 16. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 49-41B: 

A county, city, or other governmental unit, including governmental units chartered under S.D. Const., Art. IX, § 2, may not pass or enforce an ordinance that regulates, restricts, or prohibits a gas or liquid transmission line or an electric transmission line which requires or holds a permit under chapter 49-41BA, including without limitation any requirement or restrictions as to routing, setback, construction, operation, maintenance, and zoning permits. Nothing herein restricts the ability of the commission to establish setbacks……..This Act preempts any local law, ordinance, or regulation that conflicts with any provision of this chapter or any policy of the state implemented in accordance with this chapter and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a governmental unit of this state may not enact or enforce an ordinance, local law, or regulation conflicting with or preempted by this chapter." 

Noticeably absent is the definition of commission. I assume they are referring to the PUC. This is only one section of many in this bill that are very disturbing. I believe this bill defines government overreach at its worst! If this passes your county and townships cannot control any aspect of any pipeline;. Additionally this bill would supersede any previously passed provisions. You may want to read that again. Any previous actions by the townships and counties on any pipeline would be null and void. In Pierre we hear all the time that we need to respect local control, and we should, but this eliminates it and sets us up for more bills of this kind in the future. 

For me, there is matter of ethical disconnect in a bill like this. This is literally changing the law so a private company has an easier path to large profits because “the people” are getting in their way. It is frustrating that when the big money players can’t get what they want by following current law and rules, they collude to change the law to their advantage. SB201 needs to fail. 

All the bills we will have this year have now been introduced. If you want to see what is out there, go to sdlegislature.gov and click on the Green box titled “2024 Bills.” You can click on each bill number to see find the bill itself and the detail. If you have any questions or comments please use my personal email, kevinj605@gmail.com.  Thank you for continuing to support me in District 16.