After narrowly passing the South Dakota Senate, SB 3 headed to the House for debate. It’s first stop was the House State Affairs Committee. And it seemed like SB 3 wouldn’t make it out of the State Affairs Committee. In a vote of 8-3 against SB 3, debate for the bill became scheduled for March 11. This is one day after the regular session ends. Any bill not advanced to the governor by the end of the regular session dies without debate. Lawmakers would need to reintroduce the bill in either the next regular session or a special session if one is called. 

The House Minority Leader, Jamie Smith, D, asked the State Affairs Committee to push SB 3 through to at least let the whole chamber discuss and vote on cannabis legalization. After all, voters did approve of recreational cannabis in the 2020 election under Amendment A. It became overturned by the South Dakota Supreme Court in November after a lawsuit on behalf of Governor Kristi Noem, R. 

“I do believe that people in South Dakota knew what they were voting for with recreational marijuana… It’s time to tax and regulate this,” Representative Smith said. “I believe setting up that structure as a legislature is better for us than what we will have the opportunity to do if it goes again to the vote of the people and passes again. This gives us an opportunity to set it up as a legislature for the state of South Dakota.”

Smoke Out

There was a chance lawmakers could bring SB 3 back to life in the South Dakota House, through a “smoke out” process. This occurs when ⅓ of House members can force a floor consideration for a bill rejected in a committee. On March 1, 24 House members stood up and called for SB 3 to return to the House floor for debate. This was exactly ⅓ of House members, meaning SB 3 was successfully revived. 

Activists, who have been working on collecting signatures for their own legalization ballot measure, cheered at this turn of events. “This is an encouraging outcome today,” said Matthew Schweich, the director of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML). “It’s clear that members of the South Dakota House of Representatives are listening to their constituents who are demanding that the will of the people be restored.”

Next Steps

SB 3 will now move to a full House chamber discussion and vote. To pass, a simple majority of 36 is required to send SB 3 back to the Senate. There, the Senate will approve of any changes the House adds onto the bill before sending it to Governor Noem.

It’s unclear how Governor Noem will respond. While she hasn’t outright said she will veto a legalization bill, she is still against any sort of legalization. “I still believe I haven’t seen anybody get smarter from smoking dope,” she said in response to SB 3 passing the Senate. As more information becomes available, we will update you with the latest. 

Make sure to check back for more cannabis, hemp, and psychedelic related news.