In honor of Editor Heidelberger’s big win against HB 1094’s registry for petition circulators, here is an idea for a bill the South Dakota Legislature should take up.
Currently, members of the legislature receive regular pay of $297.31 per day. For a 40-day session, this amounts to just under $12,000.
Let’s just go back 15 years. How many bills did they pass, which were ruled invalid or unconstitutional by the courts or found unpalatable by voters?
I will go over four, but there are more.
The most recent court defeat of HB 1094, last year’s riot-boosting law, and extremely restrictive anti-abortion laws in 2006 and 2008 which were both voted down by a majority of South Dakota’s voters.
So why exactly does anyone think it is a good idea to send people to Pierre to pass useless legislation? It seems some legislators think it is their job to pass legislation that they know will be challenged in court.
Essentially, we are electing people to represent us who will be betting taxpayer money that their pet bill might win in court. After all, what do they care? It is not their money they’re spending.
Still, they think it is a good idea to push a personal political agenda, as opposed to moving through legislation that might have some meaningful effect on the lives of South Dakotans.
Others must agree, because it seems the people who pass this legislation keep getting re-elected.
But I have an idea that might hold them in check. For every bill passed into law by the legislature, which is later ruled unconstitutional or voted down, the pay of every legislator who voted in favor of said legislation should be docked.
Don’t you think our elected officials should be smart enough to know what is constitutional and what isn’t?
It seems that many of them think just because they were elected, they are smarter than those who voted for them.
However, that is just not true. I know many legislators personally and could name several who aren’t nearly as intelligent as Cory or I or most of the people who read the Dakota Free Press.
Consider this: these people take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, but they are constantly passing laws that are likely to be challenged in court. That is certainly not smart.
And since they take that oath, doesn’t it seem wrong that they are using their Legislative positions to break their oaths and attack the Constitution?
So, here’s my idea: when a law that comes from the South Dakota Legislature is found unconstitutional by the courts OR is overturned by the voters of the state, every member who voted for it should lose $297.31 per day for every day the bad legislation was before the Legislature.
Committee members who vote for unconstitutional or bad legislation to go to floor debate should be docked $594.62 (double) per day, since those bills never should have gotten out of committee to begin with.
This money can then be put toward paying the fees to litigate that legislation.
Now, for many legislators the money they are paid by the state doesn’t matter much, probably because they are making much, much more “under the table.”
However, when it starts showing up in newspapers and on blogs just how much taxpayer money legislators are being docked because they are incapable of doing their jobs correctly, it will demonstrate to their constituents exactly how worthless they truly are.
Currently, there is a bill being discussed that deals with how doctors are allowed to practice medicine (HB 1057 on transgender medical treatments).
This bill tries to “stop” something that only affects a small number of people in the state and could well be thrown out by the courts.
Remember, the legislators pushing this, many of whom are lawyers, aren’t smart enough to understand the Constitution and how the law really works, so it probably goes without saying that they know nothing about medicine.
Docking legislators’ pay for writing their ignorance into law would motivate these legislators to study up and pass truly meaningful legislation.
Why would anyone oppose legislation like this? I’m sure all of our legislators think that anything they do is hunky dory with the rule of law, is constitutional, and, of course, something the voters will love!
Great idea DAve, though I would much rather we just elect intelligent legislators
It seems to me that if the voters of South Dakota were as
dissatisfied as some of those commenting on this blog, said voters
would vote the rascals out. But–the mostly republican legislature
keeps getting elected, and re-elected, often with minimal opposition.
Therefore, one could reasonably conclude that the legislature is
doing the will of the voters.
Or so it seems to me.
Hello, Edwin. You’re exactly right. Your legislature is doing what the South Dakota voters want. However, South Dakota is part of my and everyone’s United States. When your legislators and Governor pass laws that violate the United States Constitution, it’s no longer important what the voters of South Dakota want. What’s important is that all the rest of us in America aren’t violated by what you’ve done.
It’s snarky enough that even I could like this proposal. The Constitution says a legislator can introduce any bill. I suppose if legislators vote for unconstitutional bills, they ought to be held accountable in some way. The problem is that someone has to go to a lot of time and trouble to take these laws to court. The South Dakota Code of Law probably has other unconstitutional provisions, but no one has challenged them yet.
I would roll back legislative salaries to what they were before the recent raise and provide that saved money for an independent office of public intervenor, which can work with citizens with standing to challenge such laws.
Edwin, your supposition is wrong. The voters suffer from a serious disconnect between brand-name personality politics and honest policy debate. Presented with policies in the form of ballot measures, South Dakotans vote moderately, with notable support for economic justice measures like increasing the minimum wage and banning payday lenders and twice-tested opposition to further abortion restrictions. But hand those same voters a ballot with candidates and party labels on them, and they forget all about actual policy and vote with their Trumpist id for the satisfying taste of Republicanism. Legislators get re-elected not on the merits of their policies but by their personalities and partisan branding.
I favor South Dacola’s easier solution of just electing smarter legislators who pay attention to the Constitution.
Absent that, perhaps we can start a movement of getting candidates to join me in making this promise: As you next Governor, I promise not to sign any bill that I think violates the Constitution, and I promise to give up a full month’s paycheck if any bill I sign is declared unconstitutional.
I think a mix of these great ideas is best.
1. When a legislator’s bill/law is overturned by the courts, take the costs out of his pay.
2. Elect smarter legislators who don’t intentionally write vanity or red meat bills.
3. Only vote for candidates who take the vow to write constitutional bills.
Any gubernatorial candidate who doesn’t take Cory’s “paycheck challenge” is a fraud and deserving of zero consideration as a leader. Make SD’s days of being consistently on the wrong side of history just that. HISTORY!
Cory, has it occurred to you that there are some voters
who are willing to challenge the constitution and take whatever
slings and arrows that result from that challenge? The
constitution has been amended on rare occasions.
i for one find it frustrating that sd. doesn’t use their elected attorney general to see if a proposed bill is constitutional or not ,but i would suppose that then we should elect on who could read & understan constitutional law !
Good point Marvin.
Maybe the citizenry is learning that when they have a candidate as smart and skilled and experienced as Randy Seiler, they ought to elect him. He would have saved the state thousands of dollars already. They could have repaired some flood damaged roads and bridges with that money.