South Dakota
Debate begins on abortion-rights ballot measure as Mitchell event brings out both sides • South Dakota Searchlight
MITCHELL — A proposed measure to reinstate abortion rights hasn’t made the ballot yet, but the debate is underway.
About 100 people converged Tuesday evening on Dakota Wesleyan University for a discussion sponsored by the university’s McGovern Center as part of its Courageous Conversation series.
The room was filled with attendees from both sides of the issue eager to dissect the measure, which seeks to secure abortion rights in South Dakota, reversing the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. When that happened, a trigger law that the South Dakota Legislature had adopted in 2005 immediately banned abortions in the state except when necessary to save the life of the mother.
Abortion rights groups don’t support ballot measure that aims to restore abortion access
The ballot measure would amend the state constitution to legalize all abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow regulations on abortion during the second trimester, but only in ways that are “reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” In the third trimester, it would allow regulations up to a ban on abortions, with exceptions for the life or health of the pregnant woman.
Rick Weiland, whose Dakotans for Health group is spearheading the measure, pointed to a 2022 poll that found 76% of registered South Dakota voters support allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest. Meanwhile, he said, the state’s current law has stripped women of the right to choose whether or not to carry “their rapist’s fertilized embryo to term.”
“And the Legislature refuses to address it,” Weiland said. “You can’t give a rapist’s embryo more rights than a woman who has been raped.”
State Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, who also serves as vice president of South Dakota Right to Life and attended the discussion via Zoom, said the amendment goes beyond rape and incest exceptions.
“Instead, what they wrote is an amendment that legalizes abortion past the point of viability, past the point where the baby can just be born outside the womb, and up until the point of birth,” Hansen said.
He highlighted the exception for the health of the mother in the third trimester, which he said could include mental distress.
Hansen added that the ballot measure would prohibit the state from implementing health and safety regulations on abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy.
“It’s like the wild, wild west with this abortion amendment,” Hansen said.
OB-GYN Michael Krause, of Mitchell, said doctors would not use mental distress as a justification to perform abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy.
“That is totally false,” he said. “It is harder on that mother, it is not healthier.”
Patti Giebink, a Chamberlain-based OB-GYN and anti-abortion activist, said many women who receive abortions go on to regret them.
“Elective abortion is not health care,” she said. “Because pregnancy is not a disease.”
Sheryl Johnson, the state Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for U.S. House, said “people are confused” by the language in the state’s abortion ban. She said one of her daughters had a miscarriage a couple of weeks after Roe was overturned, but when she went to the hospital, “they allowed her to go home without receiving care.”
During the middle of the night, Johnson said, her son-in-law found her daughter collapsed on the bathroom floor, soaking from blood loss, and called an ambulance to take her back to the hospital.
Noem doesn’t address exceptions but calls Trump’s abortion statement ‘exactly right’
“So as a mother, I am very angry about that, and yes, it may be that they’re just misinformed, but we’re going to have that. We’re going to have that misinformation,” Johnson said.
Giebink told South Dakota Searchlight the current state law is clear, that aborting an unviable pregnancy is legal, and that stories like Johnson’s are “fear-mongering.”
Weiland said the state’s current law is pushing women to pursue unsafe abortions outside of a medical setting. Hansen said the proposed amendment will perpetuate unregulated abortions.
Weiland told South Dakota Searchlight the proposed amendment already has plenty of signatures and will be on the November ballot. The petition needs 35,017 signatures from registered South Dakota voters by May 7. Meanwhile, the Legislature passed a law this past winter allowing petition signers to withdraw their signatures after the fact, and anti-abortion activists are conducting a coordinated signature-withdrawal effort.
In 2021, 93% of abortions occurred during the first trimester – that is, at or before 13 weeks of gestation, according to the CDC. An additional 6% occurred between 14 and 20 weeks, and about 1% were performed at 21 weeks or more.
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The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 10 drawing
16-21-30-35-65, Mega Ball: 07
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 10 drawing
03-27-43-45-49, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
South Dakota
Trading property tax for sales tax: Legislature moves forward with parts of homeowner relief package
PIERRE — Two pieces of a property tax reduction package prepared by South Dakota’s legislative leadership and the executive branch are moving forward, but one bill failed during votes on Monday as lawmakers began the final week of the annual legislative session.
The House of Representatives voted
42-27
in support of
Senate Bill 245
, which would pull future revenue from a scheduled sales tax increase from 4.2% to 4.5% next year into a relief fund for homeowner property taxes, and use nearly $56 million in one-time money to seed the fund before the sales tax increase.
The Senate supported
House Bill 1323
, which would reduce the number of petition signatures needed to force an election on a local government’s decision to levy property taxes beyond limits set by the state. The Senate passed the bill 19-15.
Both bills have to return to the opposite chamber for consideration of amendments.
The Senate rejected
House Bill 1253
, which would cap annual assessment growth for owner-occupied homes and commercial properties at 5% annually and reset assessments back to market value every five years. The bill failed with a 9-24 vote.
The bills are part of a broader,
five-bill legislative package
targeted at property tax relief.
Another bill
in the package, which would allow counties to implement a half-percent sales tax with proceeds going to homeowner property tax credits, is awaiting the governor’s signature after he proposed it and it received both chambers’ approval.
The legislative budget committee is scheduled to consider a fifth piece of legislation in the package on Tuesday.
The bill
would reduce maximum property tax levies for school districts.
Sales tax bill overcomes concerns about future budget needs
SB 245 would capture revenue from the impending sales tax increase to deposit into a “homeowner property tax reduction fund” meant to reduce property taxes levied by school districts. The Legislature and then-Gov. Kristi Noem reduced the state sales tax rate three years ago but scheduled the reduction to sunset in 2027.
House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, told lawmakers on Monday that the bill would be an “investment in the people,” because it’ll give South Dakota homeowners more money to spend as they choose. Hansen, the bill’s sponsor and a candidate for governor, said that would lead to more spending and, therefore, more sales tax revenue. The state relies on sales taxes, while counties and schools rely on property taxes, and cities receive revenue from property taxes and sales taxes.
Some opponents said the legislation would favor wealthier, property-owning South Dakotans rather than lower-income renters.
(Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rep. Mike Weisgram, R-Fort Pierre, worried that automatically diverting future state revenue to reduce homeowner property taxes would come at the cost of other priorities, such as annual funding increases for state employees, Medicaid providers and public schools — which are known as the “big three” budget priorities. Lawmakers often
aim
to increase funding for the groups by 3% or inflation, whichever is less. An inflationary increase this legislative session would be 2.5%, according to the state Department of Education.
“We are just clawing to get 1.4% for the big three,” Weisgram said. “I don’t think any of us are proud of that.”
Hansen said the decision “is not an either-or” situation.
“We can help the property taxpayers in the state who desperately, desperately need it,” Hansen said, “and then I trust fully that this state is going to continue to grow and that we are going to be able to meet the needs of our core obligations of this state.”
The bill was introduced as an amendment to placeholder legislation last week, and it will head to the Senate for approval. The Senate narrowly rejected a
similar proposal
earlier this legislative session.
Senate approves lower signature threshold to force election on excess taxes
The version of House Bill 1323 that passed the Senate would set the number of petition signatures needed to force an election on an excess tax levy (often called an “opt-out”) for a local government at 2,500 or 5% of registered voters within its jurisdiction, whichever is less. The current threshold to refer decisions by a local government is 5% of registered voters in the district, without a 2,500 signature cap.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, said it will still be difficult to refer decisions by a local government to voters.
“You’re talking dozens and dozens of volunteers, weeks of organized effort,” Howard said. “There’s not a lot of people that have been through that and can even organize that kind of effort. So it’s not a trivial bar.”
Because the bill was amended since it last appeared in the House, it’ll now go to the House for approval.
HB 1253 intended to provide South Dakota homeowners and commercial property owners predictable increases in their property assessments, which factor into property taxes they pay, over five year periods.
But opponents said the change would shift the property tax burden onto farmers and ranchers and surprise homeowners every five years when assessments would be re-based on market value, which could lead to double-digit increases in assessments.
This story was originally published on
SouthDakotaSearchlight.com.
______________________________________________________
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South Dakota
Political Pulse: South Dakota Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff on data centers, property taxes and more
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – State Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff joined Political Pulse over the weekend.
Mehlhaff weighed in on property tax proposals, data centers, and effort to repeal the death penalty and speculation that Kristi Noem could run for Senate.
The interviewed was taped on Saturday.
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