With the release yesterday of his explanation of Speaker Mickelson’s unconstitutional ban on out-of-state ballot question campaign contributions, the Attorney General has now cranked out fourteen sixteen* explanations for ballot questions, six of which the Secretary of State lists this morning as approved for petitioning. Five more proposed initiatives await the Attorney General’s review.
Statute gives the Attorney general sixty days to release these explanations. Assuming that initiative sponsors revise and submit their language to the A.G. as soon as they can after Legislative Research Council review, Jackley has released most of his explanations with a week or two to spare:
| Measure (c = circulating) | LRC reply | AG Expl | Days |
| Asst. Suicide (c) | 11/02/16 | 12/20/16 | 48 |
| Rec. Cannabis (c) | 01/27/17 | 03/27/17 | 59 |
| Med. Cannabis (c) | 01/27/17 | 03/27/17 | 59 |
| Omni-pot (c) | 03/30/17 | 05/17/17 | 48 |
| VIP (c) | 04/21/17 | 06/05/17 | 45 |
| IM22 redux (c) | 04/20/17 | 06/19/17 | 60 |
| potty bill | 10/07/16 | 11/21/16 | 45 |
| potty bill 2 | 02/03/17 | 04/21/17 | 77 |
| open primary/redistricting (Samuelson) | 06/09/17 | 07/26/17 | 47 |
| open primary (Kirby) | 05/12/17 | 07/11/17 | 60 |
| BQC donor lims | 06/14/17 | 07/31/17 | 47 |
| Tobacco tax to cut vo-tech tuition | 06/15/17 | 08/01/17 | 47 |
| Bigger tobacco tax to cut vo-tech tuition | 06/15/17 | 08/01/17 | 47 |
I assume the 77 days between LRC response and A.G. response on the second anti-trans potty bill (which still isn’t circulating, thank goodness) involved the sponsor’s delay in submitting his language, not illegal foot-dragging by our Attorney General.
*Update 16:37 CDT: A.G. Jackley released two more explanations after I published this post today, both for Speaker Mickelson’s dueling tax tobacco increases to reduce vo-tech tuition. If A.G. Jackley sticks with his 47-day turnaround time he’s managed for all three Mickelson initiatives so far, we should expect his review of Mickelson’s remaining initiative, on flushing out dark money in ballot question campaigns, on Wednesday, August 16.
I voted for the last increase on the tobacco tax, but I couldn’t vote for this one. This state needs to figure out how to get its fiscal house in order through other means than increasing sin taxes.
We really should join our country in deregulating cannabis policy, and we’d increase sales tax revenue by doing it. This state should be happy to thumb its nose at the Federal government – in the name of freedom and releasing South Dakota from the Federal chains that keep our sales tax revenue lower than it should be.
Maybe we need a Governor like Marty Jackley, who will drag his feet on the paperwork of public service. In fact, if he were Governor, maybe his slowness might act as an obstruction to the majority of state legislators who continue to try and move this state backwards instead of forward.