Lawmakers debate gutted HB 1025 as bill limps to Monday

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Amended and killed, but very much still alive. At least for now.

That’s the present reality of House Bill 1025 in Pierre. When Friday began, the legislation would have appropriated money to build a new men’s prison in Lincoln County. But Republican Jack Kolbeck’s amendment transformed HB 1025; now, it would only transfer $148 million to the incarceration construction fund. 37 House lawmakers supported the amendment while 32 were in opposition and one was excused when the full House of Representatives considered the bill Friday afternoon.

House defeats bill for new men’s prison

“After we transfer this money, we will have roughly $790.1 million available for the prison project, but we have separated the funding, we have separated the funding, from the construction while we analyze and discuss the overall project,” said Kolbeck, who voted for the amended legislation.

After the amendment was adopted, the legislation only needed a simple majority to pass since it was no longer an appropriations bill. 

“As far as funding, we’re not committing the funding today,” said Republican William Shorma, who voted for the amended legislation. “We are giving ourselves the flexibility to do whatever we think is the right thing to do when we get done debating this in a day or two or three or four.”

The money involved in the ongoing conversation was front and center as lawmakers made their arguments.

“Can we as South Dakota citizens at this point in time afford an $825 million prison that does include the cost of the roads, I might add,” said Republican Karla Lems, who voted against the amended legislation.

“I can maybe think of three people in my community that want this thing south of Harrisburg,” said Republican Aaron Aylward, who voted against the amended legislation. “And their mind may have changed right now. I guess the other thing I’ll touch on is the financial piece of it, which I think we’ll probably hear more about, but this year’s been tight. We can’t afford it.”

“No one wants to build a prison. No one wants to spend the money,” said Republican Mary Fitzgerald, who voted for the amended legislation. “But I’m sorry. People continue to hurt other people. We need to put people away to protect the public.”

And just how badly a new facility is warranted also had legislators’ attention.

“This prison is a need. It’s not a want,” said Republican Will Mortenson, who voted for the amended legislation. “But I would tell you it’s an unwanted need. I would much rather be spending this money improving educational attainment of our kids.”

“Do we need a new prison? Yes, we need a new prison, but do we need that big of a prison? Do we need all those rooms? And if we do, we need to start asking ourselves why do we need all those rooms,” said Democrat Peri Pourier, who voted against the amended legislation. “Can we acknowledge the rate that poverty feeds into crime that feeds into prisons.”

“A prison isn’t going to help anybody in my county. It’s just not,” said Republican Liz May, who voted against the amended legislation. “Matter of fact, it’s probably going to be devastating. We need to concentrate more on rehabilitation.”

“We’re talking about probably the hardest decision we’ll have to make as legislators because we have a responsibility to take care of the state and the people in it,” said Democrat Erik Muckey, who voted against the amended legislation. “And we also have a responsibility to ensure that we’re talking about these opportunities to talk about how do we keep people out of these prisons.”

“It’s the responsible thing to do today, to put that money aside, and make sure that it’s used for this purpose,” said Republican Taylor Rehfeldt, who voted for the amended legislation. “I urge your vote green.”

In the end, not enough legislators voted green. Only 34 supported the amended HB 1025 on Friday afternoon, with 35 against and one excused. But with Rehfeldt’s motion to reconsider, it survives until at least Monday. The legislation will need a simple majority of House lawmakers’ support to advance to the Senate.