Title:
Act now to stop bills that would restrict South Dakota's initiative process
Message:
Two bills are currently steamrolling through the South Dakota Legislature that would place restrictions on the signature-gathering process for ballot initiatives. S.B. 137 and H.B. 1156 both would make it illegal to pay petitioner circulators per signature gathered. (Instead, circulators would have to be paid a fixed hourly wage or salary.) H.B. 1156 also creates further restrictions for the people who qualify to be petition circulators.
Having to pay petitioners a fixed wage or salary, instead of per signature, removes the incentive to work hard and to collect as many signatures as possible. If these bills become law, it will be more difficult to qualify initiatives for the ballot.
S.B. 137 has already passed the Senate State Affairs Committee, and awaits a full Senate vote. On the other hand, H.B. 1156 has already passed through the full House. It has now been sent to the Senate, where it awaits a hearing, also in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
South Dakota was the first state to adopt the initiative and referendum process in 1898. This is a voters' rights issue. These bills would make it more difficult for citizens to have a voice. Please call your state senator and representative today, and urge them not to support bills that restrict South Dakota's initiative process.
You can find out who your legislators are by visiting this page. Please take a few moments to call them, and encourage them not to support these restrictive bills.
You may also call the Senate State Affairs Committee chairs and urge them not to hold a hearing on H.B. 1156. Encourage them not to enact laws that restrict the initiative process:
Sen. Thomas A. Dempster committee chair 605-359-6387
Sen. Bob Gray vice-chair 605-773-3821
These two bills would make it more difficult for citizens to get initiatives on the ballot.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message along to your concerned friends and family in South Dakota, so that they, too, may become involved.
