A bill to limit the usage of state aircraft was killed in the Senate Transportation Committee Wednesday morning.
Sen. Reynold Nesiba said SB 199 is necessary to support current state law.
“What I am trying to get at here, is that when we passed that, when the people of South Dakota passed this in 2006. It was passed and it was advertised and debated with no exceptions," Nesiba said. "That the state airplane should only be used for state business and nothing else. That you couldn’t combine a personal or event with it. If you are going to do a social event or a political event, you can take a different plane."
Opponents said the bill will have unforeseen consequences.
Joel Jundt is the Secretary for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. He said the bill would interrupt many important missions already in motion.
“First is the South Dakota National Guard. They use the aircraft to transport families of deceased Guard members, these family members are allowed to travel on state aircraft so they are present when their deceased loved ones return home,” said Jundt.
The bill was defeated in a six to one vote.
The bill comes after Gov. Kristi Noem faced a complaint over using the state plane to fly to political events. A DCI investigation cleared her of any wrongdoing.
