House committee decides not to ask voters to legalize mobile sports betting • South Dakota Searchlight A board of state representatives defeated a measure that would have asked Svoters to approve sports betting to help fund property tax relief.

A committee of state representatives rejected a measure that would have asked South Dakota voters to approve sports betting and use the resulting tax revenue to fund property tax relief.

Digital currency regulation bills head to South Dakota governor's desk • South Dakota Searchlight Two bills to regulate digital currency are on their way to Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk after votes in both chambers of the legislature.

Two bills to regulate digital currency in South Dakota are on their way to Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk after votes in both chambers of the legislature.
One bill is meant to curb scams involving digital currency kiosks; the other would define cryptocurrency as a seizable asset.

South Dakota lawmakers defeat app store age verification proposal • South Dakota Searchlight A bill that would have required mobile app stores operating in South Dakota to use age verification to restrict access by minors failed on Monday.

A South Dakota Senate panel said no to a bill that would've put the onus for age verification in app store purchases on app stores. A lobbyist for app stores argued that the makers of apps that cause harm ought to bear the burden of age verification.
southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/south...

Reduced-price school meals funding heads to Senate • South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota families who qualify for reduced-price school meals could get those meals for free if the state Senate backs a bill.

If the idea earns the support of South Dakota Senate and Gov. Larry Rhoden, the state Department of Education would cover the cost of reduced price meals for qualifying students. Currently, schools charge 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch.

SNAP soda ban headed to desk of South Dakota governor, who’s concerned about costs • South Dakota Searchlight The question of whether South Dakota moves to ban the use of SNAP benefits for sugary drinks is in the hands of Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden

The question of whether South Dakota moves to ban the use of government food assistance for sugary drinks is in the hands of Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who has signaled his opposition to the bill all through the 2026 legislative session.

You know psychedelics have mainstream attention as a mental health treatment when even drug-skittish South Dakota gets behind them.
The key to support here? Veterans. Psychedelics are a promising alternative treatment for PTSD.

Interest rate amended from zero to 2% in bill allowing airport loans from housing fund • South Dakota Searchlight The Senate also approved a bill that would loosen the terms of housing infrastructure loans from the fund.

The South Dakota Senate approved a bill that would allow a state housing infrastructure fund to be used for large airport project loans, but at 2% interest instead of the previously proposed 0%.

South Dakota senators endorse resolution asking voters to rein in lieutenant governor's authority • South Dakota Searchlight Voters may get to decide if South Dakota’s lieutenant governor retains the right to preside over the state Senate.

Last week, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that the lieutenant governor has the authority to break tie votes in the state Senate.
This week, Senators passed a resolution that would ask voters to strip the lieutenant governor of that authority.
southdakotasearchlight.com/2026/02/24/s...

Data center restrictions earn lawmaker endorsement as fight continues over tax incentives • South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota legislative committees vetted nine data center bills at the Capitol, leaving three of the bills standing at the end of the day.

South Dakota legislative committees vetted nine data center bills, leaving three of the bills standing at the end of the day.

Lieutenant governor can break tie in Senate, state Supreme Court says • South Dakota Searchlight The ruling comes one day after Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen opted not to break a tie on a bill meant to make a sales tax reduction permanent.

Settling a debate that was pushed to the forefront by the health-related absence of a state senator, the SD Supreme Court has issued an opinion saying the lieutenant governor does in fact have the authority to break a tie vote in the state Senate.

A smoke shop lobbyist told a committee of South Dakota lawmakers that nicotine vapes are “the number one method worldwide to help people quit smoking.”
Then he asked them to back a bill that would make smoke shops the only place to get the flavored vapes you can currently buy just about anywhere.

South Dakota plans shift to digital medical marijuana cards • South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota medical marijuana cards will soon be primarily digital. The cannabis card news came Tuesday at the Capitol.

South Dakota #MedicalMarijuana cards will soon be primarily digital, lawmakers learned during a legislative committee hearing.

Bill to allow publicly funded charter schools in South Dakota narrowly advances • South Dakota Searchlight Lawmakers advanced a bill to allow charter schools after debate over whether the proposal would expand opportunity or strain public schools.

Lawmakers advanced a bill to allow #CharterSchools in South Dakota on a 4-3 committee vote, after debate over whether the proposal would expand opportunity or further strain public schools.

There will still be inmates in the newer, add-on parts of the prison once the new one's built. The 1881 part won't have any. Unclear at this point what happens to the old building.

Big news for our noses and our economy here in Sioux Falls.
Notable: the 1909-built pork plant and 1881-built state penitentiary just up the hill from it will both be vacated before 2030. Their replacements will be on the outskirts of town.

Soda ban for food stamp recipients would cost South Dakota $248,000 annually, report says • South Dakota Searchlight Barring the use of food stamp benefits for soda purchases would cost South Dakota taxpayers $310,000 in the first two years.

Barring the use of food stamp benefits for soda purchases would cost South Dakota about $248,000 annually, according to a legislative estimate. The state would have to hire a new employee and obtain software to track sales, file reports and help retailers. #SNAP

Federal judge declines to intervene in South Dakota attorney general's fight against abortion ads • South Dakota Searchlight The federal suit was in response to South Dakota's Marty Jackley asking a state judge to stop an abortion-rights ad campaign.

A federal judge declined to intervene against the South Dakota Republican attorney general's attempt to shut down a national nonprofit’s #AbortionPills ad campaign in the state.

The judge said "I trust that the South Dakota court will get it right."

Lawmakers endorse adding school coaches as mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, but not clergy • South Dakota Searchlight Debates about which authority figures should be mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect ended in one proposal’s failure and another’s advancement.

Debates about which types of authority figures should be #MandatoryReporters of child abuse and neglect ended in one proposal’s failure and another’s advancement at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.

State House halts health care provider conscience exemption bill • South Dakota Searchlight Legislation that would have allowed South Dakota health care providers to refuse to perform services for patients failed.

Legislation that would have allowed South Dakota health care providers to refuse to perform services that violate their conscience failed in the state House of Representatives.

The committee voted to move both bills to the 41st day, which is the manuver used to defeat bills in South Dakota's 40-day-max legislative session.

Patients spoke in opposition, saying that dosage and potency are different, as in people will take as much as they need regardless of limits. Some said the higher-potency pot products helped them when lower doses did not.
“High potency medical marijuana helped me get off opioids" one said.
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South Dakota Legislature

The second bill would've capped THC levels. Capping potency of available medical pot products. Same sponsor, Sen. John Carley of Piedmont.
Carley said high-potency pot is unnecessary and breed addiction.
sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill...
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The bill's sponsor said rescheduling at the federal level would let people get pot from regular doctors and pharmacies.
Med cannabis program folk said that's not reality, that pharmacies won't carry flower or gummies, and that 18,000 current patients would lose access.
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South Dakota Legislature

The state Senate Health and Human Services Committee swatted off two cannabis restriction bills this morning before 9 a.m.
The first would've repealed SD's medical cannabis laws if/when the federal gov. reschedules cannabis.
sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill...

Lawmakers endorse ‘principles’ on tribal consultation but punt on required meetings, documentation • South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota officials ought to talk to tribal leaders more often, but state lawmakers aren’t prepared to make them.

South Dakota officials should talk to tribal leaders more often, but lawmakers aren’t prepared to make them. That was the message from two bills considered by a legislative committee.

State House panel endorses bill to bar jail time for inability to pay sobriety program fees • South Dakota Searchlight A bill that would bar the practice of jailing people who can’t afford to pay sobriety program fees sailed through a South Dakota panel Monday.

A bill that would bar the practice of jailing people who can’t afford to pay sobriety program fees sailed through a South Dakota House of Representatives panel at the Capitol in Pierre.

Governor vetoes bill that would ban lab-grown meat, but says he’d support a moratorium • South Dakota Searchlight Rhoden proposed a compromise of a five-year ban on lab-grown meat products to allow the state time to study the product.

Gov. Larry Rhoden vetoed a bill that would effectively ban #LabGrownMeat in South Dakota, but also suggested a moratorium on the products as a compromise approach.

Bill criminalizing fraudulent insemination moves to full South Dakota House of Representatives • South Dakota Searchlight A bill on fertility fraud inspired by a Netflix documentary is on its way to the South Dakota House of Representatives.

A bill criminalizing fertility fraud that was inspired by a Netflix documentary is on its way to the South Dakota House of Representatives.
The 2022 movie is about Donald Cline, of Indianapolis, who secretly used his own sperm to father more than 90 children in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prison program that puts moms and babies together shows promise, officials say • South Dakota Searchlight A program that lets inmate mothers live full-time with their children in Pierre is showing promise in South Dakota, prison officials say.

South Dakota #prison officials have quietly stood up a program they view as a win for some inmates and their families: Since 2022, qualifying inmate mothers have lived full-time with their children in a house on the campus of the Women’s Prison in Pierre.

Killing in self-defense is legal in Wyoming. A new bill proposes compensating people who faced charges for exercising that right. - WyoFile A new bill would require Wyoming counties to reimburse people who fend off criminal charges because they lawfully used self-defense.

Lawmakers want to expand the state's self-defense statutes again, this time by requiring counties to reimburse legal fees incurred by a person who successfully defends a criminal charge on self-defense grounds.