March 10, 2020

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SB 70 – Driver’s License in Spanish – Passes House Vote!!

The work to help legal immigrants with limited abilities to read and write in English get a driver’s license has passed a critical step in its journey to becoming law, allowing these individuals to get to a job and take their children to school.

SB 70 passed the House of Representative on a vote of 42-Yea to 24-Nay.

The bill was amended in the House so it must now return to the Senate for a vote to accept those changes.  Legislative bills cannot be sent to the Governor until they have passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives with the identical language.  HB 70 will now be sent back to the Senate where there will be a motion to “concur” with the amendments made by the House of Representatives.  If the Senate votes to concur, the bill then has the same language and will be sent to Governor Noem for her signature or veto.

If the Senate does NOT concur, then a conference committee is appointed with three Senators and three Representatives being sent to work out changes that can be voted on by the full Senate and House.  If the changes presented by a conference committee are adopted, then the bill goes to the Governor’s office.  If the changes from a conference committee are NOT agreed to and a new conference committee is not appointed, the bill is defeated.

Here is the key provision of SB 70 after the amendment by the House of Representatives:

Section 2. That a NEW SECTION be added:

32-12-127. License applications and examination materials--Language.

For noncommercial driver licenses and permits, the Department of Public Safety shall:

(1) Provide the applications in Spanish and English;

(2) Provide the examination materials in Spanish and English; and

(3) Allow an applicant to take the written knowledge test in Spanish or English.

Any instructions given to the applicant during the driving test must be administered in English.

Section 3. Section 2 of this Act is effective on January 1, 2021.

 Here is the House of Representatives vote

SB 70, House, Do Pass Amended - 2020

Yeas 42   Nays 24   Excused 4   Absent 0

SB 180 – Registration for Paid Ballot Measure Signature Gatherers.

South Dakota law says only residents of the state can gather signatures to place an initiative on the ballot.  The process of making sure people standing by the doors of the courthouse or post office - or chasing people down the street - are in fact annoying residents as opposed to annoying people from faraway lands, has proven to be tricky at best.

During the 2019 legislative session, HB 1094 was passed and became law.  HB 1094/2019 set up requirements for anyone gathering signatures for ballot measures whether they are volunteers or paid circulators.  There was also an extensive list of information that people had to provide that became a public record.  South Dakota Voice, an entity organized by Cory Heidelberger, challenged HB 1094/2019 in court as being unconstitutional.  Federal Judge Kornmann agreed and suspended the law.  The state has filed an appeal.

SB 180 is designed to address the concerns expressed in Justice Kornmann’s ruling while still putting some rules on people who are paid to circulate petitions.  Under the provisions of SB 180, volunteer circulators will not be required to register.

The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports SB 180 which passed the House of Representatives on Monday March 9^th.  Here is that vote:

SB 180, House, Do Pass Amended – 2020

 Yeas 54   Nays 11   Excused 5   Absent 0

 Thank you for your support of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry.