Kristi Noem criticized by South Dakota Freedom Caucus for allegedly overstepping authority
Jack Birle
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Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is being criticized by members of the South Dakota legislature’s Freedom Caucus for allegedly overstepping her constitutional authority.
The group of lawmakers claims the state’s Department of Labor and Regulations sponsored legislation to be introduced by a collective committee, despite no individual lawmaker sponsoring the pieces of legislation.
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The two bills, House Bill 1011 and 1012, are listed as sponsored by the committees they have been assigned to “at the request of the Department of Labor and Regulations.”
The lawmakers later found 84 different pieces of legislation were “unconstitutionally introduced without a publicly declared legislator sponsoring,” The members are advocating for the governor to make the “easy fix” and have the legislation introduced via a lawmaker.
“This is a constitutional issue, and it should be an easy fix. We need to make sure that the people’s elected representatives are the ones leading this process and not unelected bureaucrats,” said Rep. Aaron Aylward (R), who chairs the state’s Freedom Caucus.
House Bills 1011 and 1012 passed the state legislature, with 1011 passing unanimously in the House with full support from the Freedom Caucus. Freedom Caucus Vice Chairman Rep. Tony Randolph (R) said the caucus was “very proud” of House Bill 1011 in a video posted to Twitter.
The caucus says they intend to bring its issue to the broader legislature but anticipate they “will face opposition from party leadership.”
Noem’s office defended the method saying the process has been “used for decades,” while also asserting committee members must still introduce the bills.
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“Committee members introduce all bills. State agencies are following the same process that has been used for decades,” Noem’s chief of communications Ian Fury told the Washington Examiner.
Noem is seen as a likely presidential candidate for the Republican primary in 2024. Recently she has called out another likely 2024 candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), for his state’s abortion policy, arguing Florida’s 15-week ban is not strict enough.