The South Dakota Democratic Party has endorsed Democratic District 12 Senate candidate and SDDP deputy director Joseph Zweifel’s call for suspending South Dakota’s fuel tax. The party’s Legislative caucus has asked Governor Larry Rhoden to call a Special Session to lower the tax on diesel fuel from 28 cents per gallon to one penny for the rest of this year:
Our commonsense proposal is targeted, and tailored to the South Dakota’s legal context and critical needs. It will:
- Reduce the motor fuel tax from 28 cents to 1 cent per gallon on diesel products so the Departments of Revenue and Transportation can continue to count every gallon sold.
- Add new statutory definitions to ensure this tax holiday specifically applies to diesel, where prices are at record highs and the burden on agriculture and freight is passed to the consumer.
- Use that 1 cent per gallon mechanism to track the precise number of diesel gallons purchased to backfill the State Highway Fund and other recipients of fuel tax revenue from reserves to preserve the State’s ability to receive federal highway funds.
- End the tax holiday December 31, 2026, following the harvest and Christmas seasons [Senator Liz Larson and the six other members of the Democratic Legislative Caucus, open letter to Governor Larry Rhoden, 2026.10.12].
Speaker Jon Hansen thought a fuel tax holiday was a great idea back in May when diesel cost about $5.60 a gallon and when he needed a publicity boost for his gubernatorial campaign. But now when Democrats stunt on $6.20/gallon diesel, he’s not exactly chomping at the bit to rally his colleagues for an October Session:
On Wednesday, [KELO-TV] News spoke with Hansen about how that effort fared and whether he’s heard anything lately about a special session on the same topic.
“Not really,” Hansen acknowledged in response to whether his May call for a special sessionreceived any traction. “But my personal position hasn’t changed on it. I still support doing something on the gas tax to help people, help the consumers of South Dakota.”
Asked whether he’s spoken lately to the governor about a special session, Hansen said he hadn’t.
The South Dakota Constitution says a special session can be called by the governor or through a petition signed by two-thirds of the members of the Legislature. A petition would require at least 24 of the 35 senators and at least 47 of the 70 representatives.
“I haven’t seen a petition,” Hansen said. “Any member can start a petition” [Bob Mercer, “House Speaker: No Petition So Far for Fuel-Tax Special Session,” KELO-TV, 2026.10.14].
Any member… including you, Speaker Hansen! If you really believe in the merits of a diesel-tax holiday paid for by other funds, you should be leaping at the chance to work with your colleagues across the aisle to bring that policy to fruition. Otherwise, it looks like your call in May for the same thing Democrats are asking for now, when fuel prices burdening South Dakotans even more than they were back in the spring, was just a campaign ploy.
of course it was a campaign ploy.
Realistically, though, calling for a special session during the election, homecoming, harvest, hunting and holiday seasons is just a bit too late. The time to do this was back in July.