The Legislature’s transfer of wealth from grocery shoppers to rich mansion-owners isn’t the only smell in the Capitol. The House had to clear out for a few minutes while officials figured out whether a bad septic smell posed any hazard to lawmakers.
If only they’d been debating the CAFO environmental regulations that Senate President Chris Karr (R-11/Sioux Falls) never brought.
Appropriately, the Senate was debating amidst their neighbors’ stink Senate Bill 119, which appropriately appropriates $1.1 million to launch the next round of repairs for the most beautiful building in South Dakota:
Senate Pro Tem Chris Karr said bringing his daughter to the building highlights the institutional role of a state Capitol.
“She just stands and looks at the ceiling, all the decorations and paintings and the rotunda,” Karr said. “The idea of this bill is to take care of this place, the people’s house, and provide some much needed updates. I brought this in case we had some dollars to put into it this year, and sometimes if you put out the tip jar you’ve got to seed it a little bit.”
The amendment being debated raises that seed money from $101, to $1.1 million dollars. While there was no opposition testimony, for some that amount was too high. However, the amendments were ultimately concurred in on a vote of 20-12 [C.J. Keene, “As Senate Debates Capitol Renovation, Odor Briefly Clears House,” SDPB, 2026.03.10].
Fiscal note: Democrats have to work for four years to get legislators to spend $592,517 to feed low-income kids at school, but in one Session, legislators can muster more votes to spend nearly twice that amount to renovate their own workspace.