PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — All eleven bills would take effect immediately upon the Governor’s signing.
D926: Apply to Vote Absentee Without Notary Seal or ID: Per SDCL 12-19-2, to get an absentee ballot from your county auditor, you have to either appear in person at the courthouse or mail an application. If you apply by mail, you either have to get a notary seal on your oath of identity or send a copy of your photo ID with your application. Draft 926 would allow absentee voting applicants to simply sign a “personal identification affidavit” that includes their name, address, date of birth, and either their driver’s license number, nondriver ID card number, or last four Social Security Number digits.
D928: Revise Unemployment Insurance: Draft 928 eases these three unemployment insurance rules:
- exempts employers from being assessed for unemployment claims from workers laid off due to Covid-19 during the state of emergency declared by the Governor;
- gives employers a pass on delays in paying their unemployment tax and UI reports caused by Coronavirus-related layoffs and shutdowns;
- allows the Governor to waive the one-week waiting period before unemployed workers can get their first UI check.
D928 would expire on July 1, 2021.
D929: Add Coronavirus to DOH Court Order Powers: Draft 929 adds coronavirus respiratory syndromes to the list of diseases (TB, MERS, SARS, smallpox, ebola, and other maladies declared to be public health emergencies) for which the Department of Health can seek court orders to enforce quarantines and other measures to lock down people who are infected or reasonably suspected of having” the infection.
D929 would expire July 1, 2021.
D930: Give Governor More Emergency Powers: D930 empowers the Governor to suspend “any regulatory statute of this state prescribing the conduct of state business or the business of a local subdivision.
D930 would expire July 1, 2021.
D931: Change K-12 School Contact Hour Requirements: State law requires 437.5 contact hours for kindergarten, 875 contact hours each school year for grades 1 through 5, and 962.5 hours for grades 6 through 12. Draft 931 allows those requirements to be waived if the Governor or President declares a state of emergency in the school district’s territory. Absent an outright waiver during an emergency, D931 allows school districts to count virtual or remote instruction toward those required hours.
D931 would expire July 1, 2021.
D932: Give the Secretary of Health Superpowers: Draft 932 extends some of the Governor’s emergency powers to the Secretary of Health. D932 would allow the Secretary of Health to restrict the use of or close “any public or private location” to slow or prevent the spread of communicable diseases during a public health emergency or gubernatorially declared emergency.
D932 would expire July 1, 2021.
D933: Cancel Standardized Tests: This measure waives this year’s standardized tests for all K-12 students, including homeschoolers and recipients of stealth vouchers to private schools during the 2019–2020 school year. D933 releases schools from placing any such tests in these students permanent records.
D933 also excuses the public schools from conducting any more fire drills this school year.
D933 has no expiration date; it is written to apply only to this school year.
D934: No Driver Licenses Expire During Emergency: Draft 934 would allow the Secretary of Public Safety to extend the expiration date of all driver licenses and nondriver ID cards to up to 90 days past the end of a gubernatorial emergency or disaster declaration.
D934 would expire on July 1, 2021.
D935: Postpone Spring Local Elections to June: Draft 935 postpones all election scheduled to take place from April 14 through May 26 and directs the cities, school boards, and other political subdivisions affected to pick a Tuesday this June for the replacement date. It also empowers the Governor to postpone the statewide primary and any other upcoming election to no later than July 28, if the Governor deems such delay necessary “due to public health concerns.”
D935 would expire December 31, 2020.
D936: Let Counties Declare Public Health Emergencies: Draft 936 authorizes counties to declare public health emergencies, but only outside city limits.
D936 would expire July 1, 2021
D937: Enact Emergency Small-Business Loans: Draft 937 creates a Small Business Economic Disaster Relief Subfund within the REDI Fund. D928 authorizes the Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to give loans of up to $75,000 to any small business adversely affected by the COVID-19 state of emergency. “Small business is defined as any business enterprise employing 250 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
D937 funds these loans with an initial appropriation of nine million dollars: seven million from the Small Business Credit Initiative Fund, one million from the Value-Added Agriculture Subfund, and one million from GOED’s Special Revenue Fund. D937 permits the Economic Development Finance Authority to transfer in another two million.
D937 would expire July 1, 2025
(This report was contributed by Cory Allen Heidelberger / Dakota Free Press )
