SD amendment would raise voting requirement for taxes

• Corey Brown

Corey Brown

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PIERRE — There could be a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder for voters to raise state taxes. Senators could be voting as early as this afternoon on the proposal, SJR 2, from Republican Corey Brown, of Gettysburg. It would require a two-thirds majority of voters for a new tax or a tax increase to be passed at the ballot box.

This came out of the Senate Tax Committee on a 6-1 vote with only Democrat Chuck Welke, of Warner, opposed. If a majority of the full Senate approves the resolution, the House of Representatives would decide next whether to put it on the 2014 statewide ballot. From there, it would be up to a simple majority of voters to decide.

Voters in 1996 approved a two-thirds requirement for tax increases by the Legislature but the language didn’t apply the two-thirds majority to voters.

There was a ballot measure on the 2012 ballot that, had it passed by a majority vote, would have imposed an additional 1 percent of state sales tax.

Tags: news, updates, taxes, state, legislature