PIERRE, SD (KELO.COM) Governor Dennis Daugaard on Tuesday signed into law four more replacement bills for Initiated Measure 22. In all, the Governor has signed nine replacement bills for IM 22, that was repealed by the 2017 State Legislature.
"Collectively they represent a good workable solution to the concerns addressed in Initiated Measure 22," said Daugaard.
The Republican-controlled Legislature repealed the measure approved by the voters in November due to constitutional concerns and unintended consequences. Democratic leaders in Pierre argued that repealing the ethics reform package thwarted the will of the voters, and that lawmakers should have worked to correct problems in the measure itself.
Among the bills signed was Senate Bill 151, a measure sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Blake Curd. SB 151 creates an ethics complaint process for elected officials and other public employees and gives the Secretary of State the authority to levy penalties and refer repeated violations to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Daugaard also signed Senate Bill 54, which includes makes a number of clean up and clarification provisions. The bills also establish prohibitions on the use of campaign money. Candidates may only use campaign funds for campaign expenses, expenses created by being a current or former elected official, or donations to other political campaigns.
“SB 54 creates a sensible change in campaign finance law. Campaign funds should be limited to the three uses spelled out in the bill and should not be rolled into a candidate’s or elected official’s personal account,” said Daugaard.
The two other measures signed today, Senate Bill 171 and Senate Bill 27, create a task force on campaign finance and allow tougher criminal penalties for conflict of interest cases where a public official used public money illegally.