SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO AM) If the transgender locker room bill becomes law, it could cost South Dakota tens of millions of dollars, warns Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Legislative Expert, Mark Lee.
Lee tells KELO Radio's Greg Belfrage Show that all you have to do is look at what happened to North Carolina with boycotts by sports and business after a transgender law passed there, to predict the economic impact here.
"This is kind of a solution looking for a problem. I can't really find anyone who tells me they have a problem out there and all of the risk to Sioux Falls and to South Dakota is downside risk," warns Lee.
Lee says if big companies considering relocation find that South Dakota has laws not consistent with their core beliefs they are much less likely to come here.
The new bill in the State Legislature would require transgender students to use school locker rooms and dressing rooms based on their biological sex.
"Whether it be the NCAA, or entertainers or the business community, the condemnation of this sort of bill has been not only loud in terms of their voices but also in terms of their dollars," says Lee.