Press "Enter" to skip to content

Referendum Politics: What HB 1234 Means in the Fall Campaign

Last updated on 2012.03.08

If you want to circulate petitions, visit SDEA's Facebook page and say so! They'll send you a petition packet!

Let me be clear: By far, the biggest reason I'm excited about SDEA's decision to seek a referendum on HB 1234 is that a referendum gives us a chance to stop really bad education policy. (Refresh yourself on why it's bad policy here, here, here, here, here, and here.) If nothing else comes of referring HB 1234 beyond killing it, I'm 90% satisfied.

I'm also eager for any chance for public conversation on substantial policy issues. As I note in my latest column over at South Dakota Magazine (a column which I submitted just minutes before SDEA made its announcement this morning), I'm all about small-d democracy. The more chances people get to have a genuine say over their schools and other public institutions, the better.

But for those of you keeping score at home, the referral of HB 1234 offers many political ramifications for us to consider. I find said consideration... delicious. Let's dish some up:

1. Synergy with current ballot measures. South Dakotans have already placed two issues on this November's ballot: referral of a major economic development/corporate welfare program passed by the 2011 Legislature, and an initiated measure to impose an extra-penny sales tax to provide more funding for education and health care. Both measures are a swipe at the priorities of Governor Dennis Daugaard's priorities. The Governor dearly wanted taxpayer handouts to lure large business; he staunchly resisted all calls to raise taxes to avert his drastic 2011 budget cuts.

We should note that Governor Daugaard's budget cuts were so severe that, even with a 2.4% increase in per-student education funding in FY2013, the state will still spend 0.8% less on education per child than it did five years ago.

I'll speculate that a fair number of folks who are mad at the Governor about this year's education policies are already mad, or can be made mad pretty quickly, about his corporate welfare policy. And those cranky folks aren't just Dems like me. Right-wingers like Steve Sibson and my cousin Aaron who think the Governor's economic development grants are big-government interference in the economy can pretty easily make the jump to view HB 1234 as big-government interference in local education decisions. Left or right, if folks are eager for one chance to rap the Governor on the knuckles, they may be even more eager for two swings at the ruler.

The synergy isn't quite as solid between HB 1234 and the sales tax initiative. Certainly K-12 advocates will tend to favor the sales tax (which SDEA helped place on the ballot). But repealing HB 1234 costs nothing; voting for the sales tax costs something. Our conservative allies on HB 1234 will fight new taxes at least as hard as Governor Daugaard does. General pocketbook voters will hesitate more to increase their own taxes than they will to reject a complicated education law that they're hearing bad things about from left and right.

On the whole, referring HB 1234 increases the chances of votes going the way I want on the other two issues.

2. Synergy with friendly legislative campaigns. Governor Daugaard is now taking credit for beginning a discussion about education. The legislators who are running for re-election and who chose to side with the Governor against overwhelming majorities of constituents are hoping that conversation ends fast. The last thing those legislators want is for a bunch of voters to show up at candidate forums in September and October with the very unpopular HB 1234 on their minds. The hemming, hawing, harping, and hogwash they offered this winter won't play well in front of voters who will be reminded every day of the awfulness of HB 1234 by a vigorous referral campaign. Sharp challengers, Dem and Mugwump alike (I'm thinking Stace Nelson), will tap that popular discontent and use it to their advantage to unnerve and unseat the GOP incumbents. This referral may not only kill HB 1234 but replace a fair number of legislators with sensible citizens who won't let such bad bills out of committee next session.

3. Monkey wrenching the Daugaard machine. I'm prone to excessive optimism (and why not? Spring is coming!), but imagine the political impact of three strikes against the Governor on the statewide ballot. Even if the Republicans maintain their majorities in the House and Senate (and I'm not crazy enough to bank against that... yet), they'll see a chastised and weakened Governor. When the Governor's lieutenants come upstairs to twist arms for their next bonehead idea, those Republicans will look across the aisle at several new occupants of those hallowed seats and be much more inclined to think, "Forget Dennis; I'm going with the home folks!"

* * * * *

Killing policy as bad as HB 1234 is reason enough to take on the challenge of gathering signatures and waging a statewide campaign. The potential political gains simply sweeten the deal. Governor Daugaard keeps tossing us lemons. To heck with making lemonade. Let's chuck those lemons right back at him until he and the Legislature get the message. Referring HB 1234 sends that message.

Update 2012.03.07 07:58 MST: If HB 1234 makes the ballot, Mercer sees all three ballot measures providing strong policy tests for Legislative candidates.

2 Comments

  1. Jeff Nolte 2012.03.08

    Great information. I was thinking the same thing the november ballot should be a referendum on the republican party in South Dakota. As a republican I am disappointed in the way they are running things.

    Recently I had a conversation with a long time law maker in SD, he tried to tell me there was not arm twisting over this bill, and that all the caususes the day and a half before this bill was passed had nothing to do with the bill. That is a bunch of BS. I am hoping that those who serve in Pierre get the proper message from these referrals, Do what the people want not what you or the governor want. If these don't get through the process I will be extremely surprised.

  2. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.08

    Jeff, yours is a good reminder that, for a lot of voters, HB 1234 isn't a partisan issue. It's just about making government responsive to citizens... not to mention asking legislators to be honest with us. No arm-twisting? Really? Ha!

    Of course, practically speaking, the campaign can't avoid a partisan flavor, given that the only people who voted for HB 1234 are Republicans. I am curious: is there any Democrat anywhere in the state who has publicly expressed support for this bill?

Comments are closed.