The Supreme Court affirmed the Lieutenant Governor’s Senate tie-breaking authority yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, the Senate heard President Pro Tempore Chris Karr’s (R-11/Sioux Falls) motion to reconsider his Senate Bill 195, which failed Tuesday on a tie vote left unbroken by President Venhuizen. Senator Karr wanted one more swing at his proposal to eliminate the sunset clause that will raise South Dakota’s sales tax rate from 4.2% back to 4.5% come July 1, 2027.
So remember: the yeas want to change the law and keep sales tax at 4.2% next year. The nays want to stick with the status quo and allow sales tax to increase next year.
One of Tuesday’s nays, Senator Michael Rohl (R-1/Aberdeen), missed the reconsideration vote. Absent Rohl, if every present member had held his or her position from Tuesday, the motion to reconsider would have passed 17–16, and the Senate would have voted again.
But Senator Red Dawn Foster (D-27/Pine Ridge) flipped. Yea Tuesday, Foster went nay on Wednesday. That doesn’t mean she necessarily changed her mind on SB 195 itself; it could have meant she decided (after passing the first time the secretary called her name) that Tuesday’s debate was enough and that the Senate didn’t need to spend another 40 minutes debating the 4.2% sunset clause.
Whatever her reason, Senator Foster killed the reconsideration. Had she stayed yea, Senator Karr still would have had to change another mind: even without Rohl, 17 yeas would not have constituted a majority of members elected. With Rohl (who did show up for later votes Wednesday afternoon), the tie would have required President Venhuizen’s intervention, and even with his freshly affirmed tie-breaking authority in place, Venhuizen wasn’t likely to do Karr a favor and deny the state that extra 0.3 percentage points of revenue next year.
grudznick is a big fan of reckless speculation.
Do you think Mr. Sen. Rohl was laughing as he sat in the Stace Nelson Memorial Stall?
Rohl has had a habit ever since he was first elected of taking strategic absences during votes. Failing that, he waits to the end of the vote, carefully tallying during the roll call to determine whether he wants to please his district or his GOP leader, or avoid a bad grade on a scorecard, or not antagonize the crazies, The task of pleasing his leader has certainly changed since his first term.