South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf released the following statement after overwhelming opposition from the public forced Republicans to abandon SB 170, a bill that would have denied South Dakotans a vote in November on Governor Daugaard’s large projects development fund:
“South Dakotans have successfully beaten back Republican attempts to circumvent the referendum process. Voters wanted to decide the outcome of Governor Daugaard’s program for big business giveaways, and now they will have their say in November. This is a big win for South Dakota.”
Led by Republicans in the House Commerce and Energy Committee, SB 170 would have repealed HB 1230, the measure referred by voters to the 2012 general election, taken Referred Law 14 off the ballot, and replaced it with a nearly identical program. Tabling SB 170 leaves Referred Law 14 on the ballot.