I hate to lead a policy story with what can be read as a personal tussle, but when that personal tussle is expressed in disagreement over parliamentary procedure, I can’t resist.
Three weeks ago, Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr (R-11/Sioux Falls) flipped a mean parliamentary bird at Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen by challenging Venhuizen’s exercise of his power as Senate President to cast tie-breaking votes on final passage of legislation. Venhuizen responded from the President’s rostrum with a civil and rigorous explanation of the propriety of the Lieutenant Governor’s role as Senate tie-breaker. Senator Karr responded with a vacuous shrug and led a 24–10 vote to overturn President Venhuizen’s vote.
Yesterday, President Venhuizen flipped the bird back at Senator Karr. After not quite 40 minutes of spirited debate over Senator Karr’s Senate Bill 195, the proposal to keep South Dakota’s sales tax rate at 4.2% beyond the current sunset date of July 1, 2027, the Senate, still a man down as Senator Arch Beal (R-12/Sioux Falls) remains too sick to legislate (but not sick enough to resign, after missing every day this Session?), voted 17–17. The fate of Karr’s bill rested in Venhuizen’s hands.
President Venhuizen’s commentary on the situation consisted of four expressions. As he observed the Senate Secretary’s tally over her shoulder, President Venhuizen raised his eyebrows. 13 seconds later, after the Secretary read the tie result, the President emitted an amused “Hmmm.” That utterance elicited knowing laughter from every attentive citizen in the chamber. 10 second later, the President sighed and tapped the microphone stem three times, drawing another gentle wave of laughter. 5 seconds later, the most efficiently funny man in the room “Number 195 having failed to receive an affirmative vote of a majority of the members elect, the President declares the bill lost,” noted Senator Karr’s intent to reconsider, and moved the Senate decorously on to consider SB 198.
Asked by Makenzie Huber after the Senate adjourned for the day if the tussle over the Lieutenant Governor’s Senate tie-breaking power “influenced his non-vote”, Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen didn’t say, “It is only proper that I refrain from exercising the disputed tie-breaking authority while the Supreme Court considers the Governor’s request for an advisory opinion on the matter.” He didn’t say, “Hey, Chris, you asked for it!” Venhuizen said only, “I guess I’d just say that discretion is the better part of valor.”
It is entirely possible that Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen wouldn’t have voted to save SB 195 even if Senate Karr had never raised his objection to the Lieutenant Governor’s tie-breaking authority. In the 2025 Session, before he ascended to the L.G.-ship, Senator Venhuizen proposed raising the sales tax to 5% to fund property tax relief. So the President yesterday may have been flipping no bird at all, and shame on us for even thinking that the serene and decorous Senate President would ever indulge in and savor such base parliamentary pique.
28 seconds. Eyebrows. Hmmm. Taps. Nothing but pure thoughts about policy. Sure.
Motions to reconsider must be made no later than the next legislative day after a bill’s failure [Joint Rule 5-11.1]. Senator Karr thus has just a few more hours to flip a vote. If he can’t, then come July 1, 2027, he’ll be paying three cents more on every $10 grocery run as the price of his parliamentary ploy against the Lieutenant Governor.