Dana Ferguson

dferguson@argusleader.com

PIERRE — It's a tough time to be a lobbyist in Pierre.

First, a voter-backed law sought to limit their spending on lawmakers.

Now, lawmakers are moving to strip lobbyists of their sideline seats.

State Senate leaders are proposing new rules that would block lobbyists from the chamber and adjacent hallways during working hours.

Supporters of the rule change said lobbyists on the floor and in the hallway to one side of the chamber have become too much of a distraction. The committee deferred action Thursday but is likely to take up the proposal again next week.

Senators denied any connection to the passage of Initiated Measure 22, a voter-approved campaign finance and ethics overhaul that would have set caps gifts that lobbyists could provide to lawmakers, some suggested that the timing was intended to improve the approval ratings of lawmakers who've said they plan to repeal and replace the measure.

Meanwhile, lobbyists filled the hearing room Thursday to argue on their own behalf, saying they should be able to access legislators during working hours to fulfill the will of the people.

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Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, brought a proposal before the Senate Committee on Legislative Procedure that would have blocked access to the Senate chamber and hallways on either side for lobbyists representing the state and its various agencies, departments and commissions.

The committee, at the suggestion of Senate Majority Leader Blake Curd, R-Sioux Falls, then considered an expanded measure that would also block lobbyists "of any stripe" from the areas between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. He said lobbyist presence on the Senate floor and in one of the hallways adjacent has at times been "destructive and a distraction" to the legislative process.

One of the hallways is currently designated for legislators only and the other has become a home base for lobbyists who fill the couches their and pull up bill information on a designated computer.

"I think that any lobbyist here in Pierre either with a white badge or with a blue badge has plenty of access to any elected official. There are plenty of opportunities in the day, between the time the sun rises until it sets, to interact with us," Curd said.

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State lobbyists wear blue identification badges in the Statehouse while private lobbyists wear white badges.

Jeremiah Murphy, a lobbyist from Rapid City who represents multiple groups, urged the senators to vote down the proposal as it could restrict the amount of public input lawmakers get ahead of making important decisions and following the approval of IM-22 it could appear the Legislature is aiming to push away citizens.

"It's been more popular than ever to pick on lobbyists in South Dakota and most of that comes from ignorance about what we actually do," he said. "Every citizen in this state is represented by a lobbyist ... We can't do that as well if you push us away."

Dianna Miller, a lobbyist from Sioux Falls who represents multiple organizations, said with the adoption of term limits in the Legislature, lobbyists have become a source of information vital to lawmakers.

"We're part of the process," Miller said. "I certainly didn't want to become the institutional history, no lobbyist wanted that job, but it was forced upon us."

At least one member of the committee, Sen. Terri Haverly, R-Rapid City, said she wasn't sure why the panel was taking up the debate Thursday.

“I don’t have a problem saying, ‘Leave me alone,’ so I don’t know why we need this," she said.

The committee is set to reconvene as early as Tuesday to vote on the proposal. After the panel decides whether to adopt the rule change, Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, will have the authority to implement it as he sees fit.

Greenfield following the meeting told reporters that he would likely restrict state employee lobbyists during the full work day, as that is what senators have supported, and would restrict private lobbyists during the three hours before floor session, during session and in the hour following unless they have an invitation. He said if any problems developed that he would loosen the restrictions.

"I don't want to give the impression that we view ourselves in a different light than we ever have," Greenfield said. "I don't want to have anybody suggest that in an effort to make a statement that the Legislature is asserting itself a little bit more, to give the impression that we're somehow shutting down public access."

Follow Dana Ferguson on Twitter @bydanaferguson, call (605) 370-2493 or email dferguson@argusleader.com

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