Instead of Passing Bills that Cut Costs for SD families, Noem Attempts to Raise Her National Profile
After months of scandal, incompetence, and a stagnant state legislature, despite a GOP supermajority, Governor Kristi Noem has finally managed to sign some of her far right priorities. This week, Noem leaned into Trump’s Big Lie by signing a bill that limits the resources available to help state election officials administer elections. She has continued her attacks on abortion care by passing a law that would make South Dakota one of the most difficult places to get an abortion pill in the country. Additionally, Noem signed a trio of NRA backed pro-gun measures and a bill “limited in scope” that bans “state’s public universities from using training and orientation material that compels people to feel ‘discomfort’ based on their race.”
Instead of working with the legislature to cut costs for South Dakotan families, Noem is attempting to be part of the GOP’s national culture war and curry favor with Trump ahead of 2024.
Noem and her GOP state legislature have long been at odds – unable to pass substantive bills for South Dakota families and often sabotaging each other. Last month, Noem slammed state legislators in an op-ed criticizing their budget projections. Around the same time, the legislature introduced a resolution condemning Noem’s behavior as “unacceptable” because of a recent personal scandal involving attempts to interfere with state agencies to get a family member a real estate license. The South Dakota House Republican who introduced the resolution is appearing in campaign ads for Noem’s primary challenger.
BACKGROUND:
AP: “Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday signed a bill to bar state election officials from accepting donations for election operating costs, taking aim at Mark Zuckerberg’s donations that in 2020 helped officials hold elections in the midst of the pandemic. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, in 2020 donated $350 million nationwide to help local election offices collect and count ballots.”
AP: “South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday signed a bill that would make the state one of the most difficult places to get abortion pills, though most of the law will not be enacted unless the state prevails in a federal court battle.”
AP: “Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill Monday she has promoted as a rejection of so-called critical race theory, even though the legislation is limited in scope. The law bans the state’s public universities from using training and orientation material that compels people to feel ‘discomfort’ based on their race. The bill passed the Senate earlier this month.”
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Published: Apr 1, 2022