Republican legislature voted to repeal yesterday; Governor signs today
End Citizens United today released the following statement on Governor Dennis Daugaard’s decision to sign the repeal of Initiated Measure 22 – South Dakota’s voter-passed ethics and anti-corruption measure.
Yesterday, Republicans in the legislature passed a repeal bill that declared a “state of emergency.” The “emergency” allowed them to rescind the measure and bypass the democratic process of checks and balances by denying South Dakotans a chance to override their decision. The bill was sent to the Governor’s desk today where he signed it to effectively repeal IM-22.
“Governor Daugaard is blatantly defying the will of his constituents,” said Tiffany Muller, Executive Director at End Citizens United. “This fake “state of emergency” protecting Big Money special interests reveals that his priority is not South Dakota families or the integrity of elections in the state. His legacy will be shaped by this egregious attempt at undermining our democracy.”
After facing tough opposition and smear campaigns from supporters of Big Money, including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, IM-22 won in November due to the ambitious scope of its reform agenda: increasing donor transparency, creating a state ethics commission, banning unlimited lobbyist gifts to politicians, and empowering small donors.
During the campaign, End Citizens United’s ‘Fight For Reform’ project connected IM-22 with thousands of grassroots donors who supported the initiative.
End Citizens United, a grassroots-funded political action committee (PAC) with 3 million members nationwide, was established in March 2015 to counter the disastrous effects of Citizens United and reform our campaign finance system.
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