South Dakota has become ground zero in the fight for two of our most fundamental rights – local governance and the right to own property. In an effort to prove that those rights are not for sale in our state, a Petition to refer SB201 to a vote of the people was successfully circulated with an overwhelming number of signatures, and certified by the South Dakota Secretary of State to appear as “Referred Law 21” on the ballot in the November, 2024, General Election. As citizens, we are up against corporate interests with deep pockets that have put a price tag on our freedoms.
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On February 27, 2024, I emailed this letter to our S.D. House of Representatives members prior to their vote on SB201.
I’m writing to ask you, as a member of the S.D. House, to vote against SB201.
Would this pipeline debate be happening if it wasn’t for the federal government passing the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act? That grossly mis-named Act promises huge bribe money to ethanol plants for meeting an arbitrary emissions standard to produce “low carbon ethanol”.
Rather than pushing for a pipeline that pumps plant food underground, is potentially very hazardous and tramples on property rights through the abuse of eminent domain, the ethanol producers should be putting out the facts and encouraging we the people to reign in a misguided government that uses our money (actually, our increased debt) to pursue a purely political agenda.
And our state government should be doing the same. Has our state legislature submitted or passed any resolution that condemns our U.S. legislators for their reckless spending? Are we upset enough about a 30+ trillion-dollar federal debt to refuse their bribe money? Are they going to quit their fool hardy policy of passing out the cash as long as we keep taking it?
Let’s recognize the facts and quit tearing ourselves apart to see who can grab the bribes. Will South Dakota lead the way?
Sincerely,
Steve Mettler
Menno, District 19