VDA Testimony to SD Senate State Affairs Committee Hearing on Feb 10 in Support of SB 92

On February 10, I testified (in person) before the SD Senate State Affairs Committee in Pierre and delivered the following statement in support of SB 92:

“Mr. Chairman. My name is Zebadiah Johnson from Sioux Falls, SD. I’m here once again on behalf of the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota, and we are testifying in support of SB 92.

This bill is a technical fix hoping to bring more consistency to South Dakota’s initiative process. Since 2018, when the single subject rule was created for initiated amendments and initiated statutes, the legislature has gradually been implementing the statutory framework for that single-subject rule. At the moment, this includes a pre-circulation single-subject review for initiated amendments to the Constitution but does not include single-subject review for initiated measures.

This bill will allow initiative supporters to accelerate the timeline for any litigation relating to the single subject rule's application to an initiated measure. This will help avoid situations where an initiative is overturned after tens of thousands of signatures are gathered on petitions, or even after voters have had their say. It may also help avoid an extended court battle that runs up legal bills for the state.

Overall, SB 92 is a bill that increases consistency within South Dakota’s initiative process, and has potential to prevent legal battles that are expensive for the state and decrease the initiative process’s legitimacy and reliability in voters’ eyes.

We support a front-end check for the single subject rule and ask that you support this bill. Thank you.”

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