Senator Jim Bolin has a plan to reduce government… or is it a plan to single-handedly select an all-Republican Legislature?
Senator Bolin yesterday filed Senate Bill 189, which would reduce the number of legislative districts in South Dakota from 35 to 25. Following the 2020 Census, the Legislature would slim down from 35 Senators to 25 and from 70 Representatives to 50. Majority votes would be 13 and 26; the one-third necessary to block tax hikes, the budget, vetoes, and various parliamentary maneuvers would be 9 and 17.
The average population of a Legislative district would jump from the 23,000 used in 2011 to (by today’s population) nearly 35,000, meaning, among other things, that we could logically make Aberdeen one integral district instead of gerrymandering the city. Pennington County could be divided into three neat districts. Brookings and Watertown would no longer be city districts of their own: Brookings city and county could become a single district with Moody County, while Watertown would fold into Codington, Hamlin, and Clark counties. Minnehaha could be five districts, or we could divided the Minnehaha-Lincoln complex into six without spilling over into other counties.
The logical timeline for implementing SB 189 would be as follows:
- 2020: We elect our last “fat” 35-district Legislature.
- 2021: The last fat Legislature gets the 2020 Census data and draws maps for 25 districts (or hands the task to the independent redistricting commission that could be created by Charlie Parkinson’s pending redistricting ballot question, by the Democratic caucus’s HB 1218, or by a the popular vote Dems would call via HJR 1009).
- 2022: A majority of incumbent legislators tear each other apart in bitter head-to-head election battles, opening the door for new candidates to win seats in the “slim” 25-district Legislature (hey, maybe I like this plan).
- 2023: The first slim Legislature is sworn in, and lobbyists see their booze bills decrease 28% (hmm, maybe the Long Branch and the Ramkota don’t like this plan).
But Senator Bolin doesn’t write this timeline into SB 189. Instead, he would repeal the 35 districts on January 1, 2022. That would mean the legislators elected from the 35 districts extant in November 2020 and who served in 2021 would have no districts to represent in the 2022 Session. On January 1, 2022, there would suddenly be 25 new Legislative districts, all with no duly elected Senators or Representatives. In other words, the 2022 Legislature, set to convene on January 10, would have 75 vacancies. Under current constitutional provision, Governor Sutton would fill all 75 of those seats. If the Legislature and we voters approve HJR 1002, the outgoing fat Legislature would have determined how to fill those seats… and Senator Bolin is a co-sponsor of HJR 1002.
Ah-ha! Now I see Jim’s grand plan. Republicans will pass HJR 1002 because it takes away the Governor’s power to fill Legislative vacancies before Billie Sutton takes command and protects Republican districts from Democratic appointments. They’ll vote for SB 189 because it saves a little money. But put the two proposals together, and we give Jim Bolin and his club the chance to hand-pick the 2022 Legislature.
Now that is brilliant. Undemocratic, almost evil, but brilliant.
Well, that’s one way to pay for the increased legislative pay…
He can see the writing on the wall … they won’t have a Republican governor and they’re scared. Scared as hell.
Is that even Constitutional? Our forefathers must be spinning like tops in their graves at this BS
Wayne, interesting point! 105 legislators @ $6,000 = $630K. 75 legislators @ $10,191 would be $764K. If we wanted to keep total salary expenses flat in the Bolin Slim Legislature, we would raise their pay only to $8,400.
But factor in per diem savings: 105 legislators drawing $123 per diem for 40 diems = $517K. The Slim plan drops total per diem payout to $369K. Current salary + per diem is $1.15M; Slim hiked salary + same per diem = $1.13M! We’re in business!
is this guy all there or is he lost in newton hills park.
O.K., o.k., no conspiracy here—a well-informed reader notes that the abolition of existing districts does not entail the abolition of the existing legislators. We elect legislators for two-year terms. The folks we elect in 2020 stay in office for two years regardless of what we do to the map. We have to enact the new district map at the beginning of the election year so that candidates know where they’ll be petitioning.
Worth noting: Article 3 Section 2 of the SD Constitution sets 50 and 25 as the minimum sizes for our House and Senate. Max is 74 for House and 35 for Senate.