Voters: No to Out of State Money, Tobacco Tax Hike

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota approved ballot questions Tuesday to stop out-of-state money flooding citizens' initiative campaigns and to simplify future changes to the state constitution.

Voters handed a win to those frustrated over money from outside the state's borders influencing voter measures. Citizens also backed the Legislature's plan to require constitutional amendments to stick to a single subject.

Despite anger among some over lawmakers' repeal of a 2016 voter-approved ethics measure, voters panned a citizen-backed constitutional amendment that would have prevented the Legislature from changing initiatives — or the ballot question system — without a public vote. The amendment would have imposed stricter lobbying and campaign finance rules and created a new government ethics watchdog.

Smokers won't be paying to make state technical schools more affordable. Voters rejected a tobacco tax hike that sparked major opposition spending from the tobacco industry. Proceeds would have gone to lowering tuition and fees, offering scholarships and providing financial support for the state's four technical institutes. South Dakota hasn't raised its tobacco tax since 2006.

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