SD Constitutional Amendment G - Repeal travel reimbursement restrictions

Constitutional Amendment G

Title: An Amendment to the South Dakota
Constitution, to repeal certain
reimbursement restrictions for travel by
legislators to and from a legislative
session.

Attorney General Explaination:
The Constitution fixes the mileage
reimbursement rate for legislators at five
cents per mile for their travel to and from a
legislative session.

Constitutional amendment G would repeal the constitutional limitation.

___ Yes A vote "Yes" will change the Constitution.

___ No A vote "No" will leave the Constitution as it is.



Pro -- Constitutional Amendment G

Amendment G will remove the outdated five cent per mile
reimbursement that legislators receive for traveling to and
from the capital for the annual meeting of the legislature.
The five cent per mile reimbursement relates back to 1891.
Removing this language from our constitution will allow for
an accurate and fair method of mileage reimbursement as
provided for by law.

With the exception of the first travel day for legislators to the
Capitol and the return trip home at the end of Session,
legislators are reimbursed for their travel at the designated
state rate per mile. A vote in favor of this amendment will
allow for all legislative travel to be at the state rate of
reimbursement.

This amendment was a recommendation of the 2004
Constitutional Revision Commission. Since the purpose of a
constitution is to establish the framework for a government
and to subject everyone fairly to the law, placing a rate of
travel reimbursement within this document is inappropriate.
Rates of reimbursement are more appropriately addressed in
an adopted budget following legislative guidelines.

Submitted by: Representative Larry Lucas, District 26A, PO
Box 182, Mission, SD 57555

Con -- Constitutional Amendment G

This proposal changes a provision that has been in our South
Dakota Constitution for 116 years, and during that time it
hasn’t hurt anybody. There are serious constitutional
revisions that could be considered, that would affect the lives
of people in our state, and this in not one of them. I oppose
adding meaningless amendments to our fall ballot, that makes
it longer than it needs to be for our state’s work to get done.

In 1891 five cents a mile was a large sum. Today, this
payment for one of the trips to Pierre each year, is a reminder
to our legislators of our humble roots. It is a reminder of the
need for fiscal restraint. Finally, if it hurts just a little bit, it
reminds those of us in Pierre that we have to be mindful of
the burdens we have the power to place on the people we are
here to serve.

Submitted by: Senator Gene M. Abdallah, District 10, 4908
S. Glenview Road, Sioux Falls, SD 57108

5-cents-per-mile shouldn't have been written into the Constitution,
but it keeps the legislators humble. G would make accounting easier,
but it is no big deal.

I decided I should vote No.