Senate majority leaders defend Speaker in clash with lobbyist

PIERRE — The Senate majority leader defended the actions of the Speaker of the House who has banned a lobbyist from the House floor over an article she wrote that was critical of lawmakers. 

Rep. Lee Qualm, R-Platte, made his remarks to about 40 editors and publishers gathered in Pierre for Newspaper Day at the Legislature sponsored by the S.D. Newspaper Association. 

At issue were the actions of House Speaker Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, who has banned lobbyist Yvonne Taylor from the House floor. Haugaard took issue with an article Taylor wrote in May saying that the Legislature is made up of 80 percent “normals” and 20 percent “wackies.” She urged readers to elect more “normals” to the Legislature. 

Taylor, the executive director of the S.D. Municipal League, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that Haugaard has violated her First Amendment rights and she seeks to be restored to access to the House floor. 

The floor is open to the public, lobbyists and the media except just prior to the House session and just after it ends. Most lawmakers don’t have offices in the Capitol and meet constituents and lobbyists at their desks on the House floor. 

Qualm defended the actions of Haugaard.

“I’m supportive of what he did,” Qualm said. “We have the ability to say who comes on the floor and who can’t.”

Qualm said the House Speaker took the action to “build up the Legislature.”

“It seems like the Legislature gets demeaned a lot,” Qualm said. “I think that’s unfortunate.”

Asked if there was a chance that a journalist would face the same treatment after an unflattering article or critical editorial, Qualm said that wasn’t likely to happen.

“I know I’m going to get criticized,” Qualm said, adding, “We want to have a culture of respect for everybody.”

Other majority leaders at the press conference included House Assistant Majority Leader Arch Beal of Sioux Falls, Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer of Dell Rapids and Senate Assistant Majority Leader Jim Bolin of Canton.

The legislators predicted that the most lobbied bill of the session would be SB66 which limits the ability of municipal electric systems to expand. 

Bolin called it the “biggest legislation of this session,” characterizing it as a struggle between REAs that believe they are losing territory and municipal electric departments that don’t want to lose their ability to expand.

“It’s going to be one of the highly contested bills of the session,” Langer predicted. 

Most of the Republican leaders expressed support for HB1074 which creates a reporter shield law in South Dakota. Shield laws protect reporters from having to turn over their notes to law enforcement or compelling them to testify in court. 

Langer said she had done no research on the subject, but Beal and Qualm said they have signed on as sponsors of the bill and Bolin said he supports the principle. 

When asked about the role state government should play in cleaning up South Dakota’s rivers and stream, Bolin pointed to the difficulty in getting various state, federal and regional entities to cooperate. 

“You’ve got to deal with the entire drainage area,” Bolin said. “These groups are very jealous of their authority.”