The ASBSD Board of Directors voted to join the coalition in opposition of Initiated Measure 28, which proposes the elimination of sales tax on items for “human consumption” and will be the General Election ballot in November.
The Board made the decision to oppose the measure based on the significant negative impacts on public education funding the measure’s passage would surely result in with the estimated total reduction in state revenues between $133.6 and $646.2 million.
After hearing the estimate, Rep. Tony Venhuizen said, “If the people vote for this, they need to know that when we come during January, we are not going to be doing increases for anything. We’re going to make significant budget cuts.”
ASBSD has drafted a sample school board resolution opposing IM 28 for your school board’s consideration.
Download the sample resolution here.
At this time, 75 local government bodies (municipalities, townships and counties) in South Dakota have passed resolutions opposing the measure and more are expected to before the General Election in November. If your board chooses to pass the resolution, it does not need to be reported to ASBSD, but can be shared with us, if you’d like.
In addition, ASBSD has multiple resources available to provide you additional information on IM 28 and answer any questions that may arise, which include:
- Vote No on IM 28 Video
- Editorial on IM 28 from Rep. Mortenson & Sen. Crabtree
- IM 28 handout
- IM 28 FAQ
- LRC Fiscal Note on IM 28
If you need any further information or have questions about IM 28, the sample resolution or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact ASBSD: https://asbsd.org/about/contact-us/.