South Dakota Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard

SOUTH DAKOTA —  On Thursday, South Dakota’s Republican-dominated state government literally declared a “state of emergency” to repeal a voter-approved ethics reform law, in essence saying their burning desire to override the will of the public and trash ethics reform was a crisis equivalent to a hurricane or earthquake. Stunning.

Particularly infuriating is that lawmakers’ use of this emergency provision means that repeal will take effect immediately and is immune to a voter-referendum veto. And it would take twice as many signatures to initiate a constitutional amendment to restore the law as it would have to put a veto referendum on the ballot.

The ballot initiative, known as Measure 22, would have placed strict limits on lobbying, created an independent ethics commission, and implemented a first-in-the-nation public campaign finance system that would have given each voter a voucher to donate to their preferred candidates. These reforms passed by a 52-48 margin even as Donald Trump carried South Dakota by a 62-32 landslide, demonstrating that they had bipartisan support from the voters. Nonetheless, […]