The 100^th South Dakota Legislative Session began yesterday. The first day started with the formal election of the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate, followed by each legislator’s oath of office. The day ended with Gov. Kristi Noem’s assumed final State of the State speech as she then headed to Washington, D.C. for her nomination hearing for the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The legislators wasted no time getting their bills filed with the Legislative Research Council (LRC). A very busy session is in store for Concerned Women for America (CWA) of South Dakota.

First on the agenda is the dreaded annual Constitutional Convention, aka the Convention of States (COS). CWA of South Dakota has faithfully worked against this assault on our U.S. Constitution for over 10 years.

This COS resolution, SJR 502, may be heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee as early as this Friday.  SJR502 is an application to Congress to call a convention according to Article V of the U.S. Constitution, which has never been done (because it is not clearly defined, and it puts the Constitution at risk.)

SJR 502 would call for a convention to:

1. Put “fiscal restraints on the federal government.” However, this is something the Constitution already does.
2. Reduce “the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.” Again, this is something the Constitution already does.
3. Limit “the terms of office for members of Congress and other federal officials.” Term limits may sound like a good solution to bad government, but consider the following:   

• How do you know those replacements would be better?
• The Lame duck sessions would be two years for representatives and six years for senators, leaving them nothing to lose for bad votes promoted by questionable lobbyists.
• Term limits deny the voters their right to re-elect the person of their choice.
• Term limits force the good ones out as well as the bad.
• A convention for term limits still opens the Constitution for other amendments since amendments cannot be limited.
• The best term limits are elections and better-informed voters.
• The Articles of Confederation, our first Constitution, had term limits, but experience led the Founders to omit them in our current Constitution.

For more information, view our following resources:

• The U.S. Constitution is Not the Problem! brochure
• A Case AGAINST TERM Limits push card

ACTION:

1. If your senator is on the Senate State Affairs Committee, please contact them and ask them to vote against SJR 502. Explain why and identify yourself as a member of the Concerned Women for America of South Dakota. You may use any of the above talking points. Here are the members of the committee: Beal, Arch (R), Deibert, Randy (R), Jensen, Kevin (R), Karr, Chris (R), Larson, Liz (D), Mehlhaff, Jim (R), Perry, Carl (R), Peterson, Sue (R), Pischke, Tom (R)
2. Please contact your state senator and urge him/her to OPPOSE SJR 502. If it passes out of committee, it will go to the Senate floor for a vote. If it does, we expect they will vote quickly. It is imperative that you contact them in advance. Again, you may use any of the above talking points and identify yourself as a member of the Concerned Women for America of South Dakota. Go here to find your senator and their contact information.

PRAYER: Ask the Lord for this resolution to once again be defeated.