South Dakota’s new Governor, former US Rep Kristi Noem, just dropped two bills on the Legislature, at the absolute last minute. These are lobbyist written bills, given to the legislator well after the regular-order deadline to suppress significant legislative debate, or public input. (There are only seven legislative days left of our 40 day session.)
The Governor’s press release is breathtaking in its masterful Newspeak:
The legislative package introduced today will help ensure the Keystone XL pipeline and other future pipeline projects are built in a safe and efficient manner while protecting our state and counties from extraordinary law enforcement costs in the event of riots [sic]
South Dakota already has several laws against incitement of riot, but SB 189 and SB 190 invent a whole new crime: “riot boosting”, so if you did as much as send water or pizza to support our beloved water defenders, or perhaps blog in support, you may get the bill in the mail. This is how she makes this sound innocuous and wonderfully innovative:
“Under the PEACE fund and the Riot Recovery Fund, the state, counties, federal government, pipeline companies and rioters will share in law enforcement costs,” concluded Noem. “This first-of-its-kind plan is a transparent way to spread costs and risk without raising taxes.”
As our own Dakota Free Press notes (“1984 in America: Noem Declares Fake Emergency, Creates PEACE Fund to Fleece Protesters and Pay Keystone XL “Riot” Costs”)
SB 189 … establishes a “Riot Boosting Recovery Fund”, into which shall be poured any treble damages the state can squeeze out of the protestors it prosecutes for rioting or riot boosting.
Two months into Gov Noem’s reign. This is going to be a long, painful ride.
UPDATE: The ACLU-SD has chimed in with this blog post and invitation to SD citizens to speak up.