Week 2 of the 100th Legislative Session is complete! The House Ag & Natural Resource committee voted to pass 13-0 on HB1022. An act to prohibit the misbranding of cell culture protein. This is a proactive truth in labeling bill. It will provide a clear distinction between beef and a cell culture protein, if/ when a consumer is able to purchase this product in a store. Cell culture protein is not currently commercially available. On the 7th day, HB1022 passed unanimously on the House floor, and it will now head to the Senate.
The House also voted to protect the children with the passing of HB1053. This is an act which requires age verification by websites containing material that is harmful to minors. This has also gone to the Senate for further consideration. We also voted to increase the threshold by which a Constitutional Amendment can be passed. If agreed upon by the Senate, this will go to the voters in the 2026 election. The bill increases the threshold from 50% +1 vote to a 60% majority to change the Constitution of SD.
On Wednesday, in House Commerce & Energy committee, we had informational meetings with the Department of Revenue, SD Lottery, SD Commission of Gaming, and SD Telecommunications. On Friday, we heard two bills brought by the Public Utilities Commission. HB1007 allowed the PUC to recover costs from an applicant in a timely manner. HB1008 included a hybrid facility as a facility to be regulated by the PUC. This addressed a megawatt usage by facility that is using two different forms of energy (I.e. solar and wind). Anything over 100 megawatts must be permitted by the PUC. Both of these passed in committee and will be discussed on the House floor.
An exciting bill came out of State Affairs on Friday. HB1052 is an Act to ban the use of eminent domain for any pipeline transporting carbon oxide. It was a full room with many testifiers on both sides. It passed out of committee with a 10 to 3 vote and will now be discussed further on the House Floor on Monday, Jan 27th. The passage of this bill would be the first step in stopping the abuse of eminent domain by a private, out of state corporation. The Legislature has the responsibility and the mandate by the people to decide what eminent domain can and cannot be used for.
Looking forward to the third part of the session. Our new Governor, Larry Rhoden, will be sworn in and we will learn who will be selected as the new Lieutenant Governor. It is an exciting and historical 100th Legislative Session. We will also hear plenty of new bills. Stay tuned for updates!
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns. My email is Kaley. nolz@sdlegislature.gov