The Board of Directors of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry has voted (May 24, 2022) to oppose Amendment C on the June 7, 2022, primary election ballot.
First, Amendment C shouldn’t be on the ballot of the June primary election which will have a very small voter turnout that is overtly partisan and will not represent the will of the majority of South Dakota voters. The Chamber has voiced objection to the use of the primary election since the 2021 legislative session when HJR 5003 was put on the ballot for the June vote.
“Urging voters to reject Amendment C is the final way to address an error made by the legislature,” said David Owen, President of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, continuing with “they didn’t even hold a hearing on the use of the primary.” Owen stated that most primaries have about 20% to 25% voter turnout and that “this is the essence of minority rule.”
The Chamber Board also repeated the organization’s long history of opposing putting policy matters in the Constitution. If Amendment C turns out to be a mistake, it will require another statewide election to correct it.
And finally, Owen commented, “We understand that many Chamber members support the idea of making it harder for ballot measures to increase taxes and public spending but Amendment C is poorly drafted, too ambiguous, and just invites a series of lawsuits, one of which has already been started. There should be a full debate about tax and spending limits and the Chamber looks forward to that discussion but Amendment C isn’t the correct tool.”
In summary, the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry urges voters to VOTE NO on Amendment C for the following reasons:
§ Amendment C should not be on a primary ballot where it will be decided by an extremely small minority of voters.
§ Amendment C is policy that does not belong in the Constitution.
§ Amendment C language is too poorly written and too vague.
§ Amendment C has already had one lawsuit filed to challenge it, more are certain to follow.
§ Amendment C is not a workable way to limit the use of ballot issues to increase taxes or government spending, a goal that the Chamber could support.
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