Ballot question committees enjoyed some small victories yesterday in Pierre.
First, ballot question committees have won the right to immortality. Senate Bill 128 repeals the burdensome change the Legislature made in 2016 requiring ballot question committees to terminate after each election. Now groups like TakeItBack.org and Represent South Dakota that might want to maintain an ongoing presence to fight for ballot measures (and we all know that sometimes change takes more than one election cycle) can do so without disbanding and rebanding.
SB 128 also satisfies the Chamber of Commerce’s request that a ballot question committee be allowed to tackle multiple subjects. The latter point relieves us of the silly legal fiction I had to engage in three years ago, filing two separate ballot question committees for the two referendum drives I led, even though the committees consisted of no one but me. The same relief applies to the 2016 payday lending campaigns: when the Presentation Sisters and others wanted to form committees to support the real 36% rate cap and oppose the competing fake 18% rate cap, they had to file double-paperwork pretending that their pro-36% campaign was somehow separate from their anti-18% campaign. SB 128 lets campaigners with interests in multiple campaigns keep everything on one sheet of paper.
SB 128 passed the House yesterday with no dissent. Come July 1, ballot question committees can live forever and tackle all the questions they want.