PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — First, House Bill 1025 was gutted. And now, it’s dead.
The legislation in Pierre originally would have appropriated money to build a new men’s prison in Lincoln County, but it was amended to only transfer $148 million to the state’s incarceration construction fund. Now, the legislation has failed entirely.
A motion to reconsider the bill gave it a chance at survival Monday after the full House voted Friday to not advance the legislation to the Senate. However, any optimism that the bill could make it to the Senate was quickly gone.
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“The Rehfeldt motion, having failed to receive the majority vote of the members-elect, is hereby declared lost,” Republican Speaker of the House Jon Hansen said Monday from the dais, referencing the motion to reconsider from Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt.
35 lawmakers voted Monday to reconsider the amended HB 1025. But 35 disagreed, and the bill died. Democratic Rep. Erik Muckey of Sioux Falls and Republican Rep. Aaron Aylward of Harrisburg have voted in opposite ways on HB 1025, and for Muckey, transferring money to the incarceration construction fund would have provided an opportunity.
“To move forward with funding at this point in time is also an option for us to open a broader discussion about things like our ingestion policy, what meaningful rehabilitation and prevention services we can provide,” Muckey said.
But other lawmakers didn’t want the amended legislation to advance out of their chamber or even have a chance at reconsideration. For Aylward, the entire process has been flawed.
“I think we could have done a lot better job of being transparent, letting the public know around that area rather than just maybe lawmakers here and there,” Aylward said.
And while HB 1025 was significantly amended, had it advanced to the Senate, lawmakers there could have added back in the language which the House took out. The proposed facility in Lincoln County had a guaranteed maximum price of $825 million: a cost that has provoked sticker shock in Pierre.
“As South Dakotans, it’s very clear folks do not want to build a prison if they don’t have to,” Muckey said. “The challenge we have is, how do we do this in a fiscally responsible manner.”
“When we’re looking at a bunch of cuts in the budget and then, again, this big, shiny object, people are like, ah this isn’t the right time for this,” Aylward said. “I think we all agree that we need either fixes in certain facilities, or maybe a new facility somewhere else, but this isn’t it.”
KELOLAND News has requested an interview with South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, who has supported putting a new men’s prison in Lincoln County. His office said there will be an opportunity to sit down with him about it “at a later time.”
Republican Rep. Roger DeGroot tells KELOLAND News that his “nay” vote on Monday’s motion to reconsider HB 1025 was made in error: a simple, innocent mistake. DeGroot had voted Friday to advance the amended legislation.
