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Republican Legislators Plan to Raid Public Coffers for ALEC Dues Again

Remember how last year the Republican leaders of the South Dakota Legislature decided to spend your money on their dues for the corporate fascist lobbying group ALEC? GOP spinners blew some smoke about putting the American Legislative Exchange Council on a level playing field with what they misportray as liberal legislative organizations, but more honest Republicans criticized the decision, which uniquely favored ALEC with tax dollars for legislators' dues.

But they got by with it: ALEC claims that every member of the South Dakota Legislature belongs to ALEC. South Dakota's GOP leadership wants to keep those good times rolling. The agenda for the May 8 Legislative Executive Board meeting includes discussion of this year's travel reimbursement policy for legislators. E-Board members will discuss the following proposed travel policy, which renews last year's controversial ALEC subsidy:

The Executive Board of the South Dakota Legislature has established a Travel Policy for Legislator attendance at out-of-state meetings for the period May 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. All legislative out-of-state travel not in accordance with the guidance received in this memorandum will not be reimbursed.

All requests for travel must be approved by the Executive Board Chair. Any legislator who wishes to attend a national meeting but will not be seeking reimbursement from state funds may do so without prior approval.

A legislator who has been selected as a member of a committee of the National Conference of State Legislators, the Council of State Governments, the Midwestern Legislative Conference or the American Legislative Exchange will be reimbursed for travel expenses. Any member of the executive governing board of the NCSL, CSG, MLC or ALEC will be reimbursed for travel expenses to attend board meetings. Dues for ALEC are also eligible to be reimbursed.

Legislators and individuals appointed to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, the Uniform Laws Commission, the Education Commission of the States, and the Legislators Forum will be reimbursed for expenses to attend these meetings.

All legislative travel reimbursements are subject to the Rules of the South Dakota Board of Finance. (NOTE pending rule change: In order for the LRC to comply with the pending rule change, travel voucher reimbursement information must be submitted to the LRC for processing within 30 days from the day a legislator returns from travel.)

This policy has been adopted by the Executive Board and is effective for May 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

All previous travel policies adopted by the Executive Board are superseded by this policy [emphasis mine; Proposed Legislator Travel Policy, Executive Board, South Dakota Legislature, 2014.05.02].

Notice that of the four legislative organizations addressed by this policy, only ALEC receives eligibility for dues reimbursement. And notice that, despite the alarms set off by Richard Benda's insufficiently overseen travel extravagance, this policy places responsibility for approving travel requests in the hands of one person, the chairman of the Executive Board. Such are the lessons our Republican leaders learn from one-party rule.

12 Comments

  1. Cranky Old Dude 2014.05.03

    It seems like, no matter what political label you bestow, all these organizations simply provide places for the Oligarchs to meet and greet while figuring out new ways to steal your property and freedom. I wouldn't pay anybody's dues for anything and if they want to travel they can do it on their own dime. The more time these people spend together, talking and comparing notes, the worse things will get for the peasants who have to pay for it all.

  2. Mike Verchio 2014.05.03

    I do not belong to or support any of your hard earned money going to any of these groups . Internet access is there for all of us to use . No legislator , in my opinion , needs to network in person when you can email any other legislator in our nation and get a response .

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.05.03

    Rep. Verchio, thanks for your input and your respect for the taxpayers! Now even I will admit that e-mail, blog, and other e-contact is not as rich as face-to-face interaction. But that's like saying traveling by car isn't as nice as traveling by plane. It may be true, but that's not reason enough to justify spending taxpayer dollars on a special plane for the Governor.

  4. Nick Nemec 2014.05.03

    All these out of state meetings, regardless of organization give industry lobbyists an opportunity to wine and dine legislators from around the country at on easy centralized location. And that's not a good thing.

  5. Nick Nemec 2014.05.03

    I speak from experience, in the mid 1990s I attended one of these conferences, when drug company and insurance lobbyists learned I sat on the Commerce Committee, which often dealt with those issues, I was mobbed and listened to more company pitches than any sane person would want to be subjected to.

  6. Les 2014.05.03

    """I was mobbed and listened to more company pitches than any sane person would want to be subjected to."""
    .
    Was that a sanity issue Nick?

  7. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.05.03

    This just ticks me off to no end!!!

  8. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.05.03

    I think as much as anything, it's the sheer arrogance of it, the disregard for SD's citizens, the sense of real entitlement.

    GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

  9. Tim 2014.05.03

    I don't agree with ALEC or anything they stand for, what gives the state legislature the right to spend my tax dollars on these private propaganda junkets? Guess they figure if Noem and Thune can do it (although on a larger scale), they can too. This really pisses me off.

  10. WayneF 2014.05.04

    Cory,
    If you have it, please post a list of current SD legislators who are members of ALEC and/or attend these sessions for lazy Republican state legislators.

    Also, if you can, provide information about how much SD citizens are contributing to legislators' participation in these private propaganda junkets.

Comments are closed.