Opinion ID: 901469
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: History of Initiative and Referendum

Text: [¶ 21.] The historical background of the South Dakota constitutional provision on initiative and referendum can be traced to the Constitutional Convention of 1885. On September 12, 1885, the Constitutional Convention of Dakota Territory considered W.H. Lyon's petition for direct legislation by the people. The petition called for all general laws to be submitted to a vote of the people and gave the legislature only the power to pass appropriation and certain other necessary laws. The petition read: Petition I respectfully request that this Convention incorporate a provision in this constitution, that all appropriation bills for new public institutions, and permanent improvements to existing institutions, and all laws of general interest to the people should be drafted by the Legislature, and submitted for the people to enact or reject, at annual or biennial elections, and that the Legislature be given only the power to pass appropriation bills for the ordinary running expenses of the State, and to enact the necessary laws of a local, special and private nature, that can not well be provided for by general acts. Respectfully, W.H. Lyon. 1885 South Dakota Constitutional Debates 113. [5] The convention rejected the petition and instead recommended that: The legislative power shall be vested in a legislature which shall consist of a Senate, and a House of Representatives. 1885 South Dakota Constitutional Debates 138. [¶ 22.] The Constitution of the State of South Dakota was overwhelmingly adopted by popular vote on October 1, 1889. Constitution of South Dakota, 1 South Dakota Codified Laws at 191 (West). South Dakota Constitution, article VI, § 26 provided, as it does today: All political power is inherent in the people, and all free government is founded on their authority, and is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right in lawful and constituted methods to alter or reform their forms of government in such manner as they may think proper. And the state of South Dakota is an inseparable part of the American Union and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. Thus, under our system of government the powers of government are derived from the people. [¶ 23.] The language of article III, § 1 of the constitution adopted in 1889 mirrored that proposed by the 1885 constitutional convention: The legislative power shall be vested in a legislature, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. This section of the constitution granted to the legislature the legislative power of the state without reservations, Pyle, 55 S.D. at 271, 226 N.W. at 281, and was only subject to the veto of the governor. Hodges v. Snyder, 43 S.D. 166, 178 N.W. 575 (1920). Pursuant to article III, § 22, of the 1889 constitution, no legislative act could take effect until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed unless an emergency was declared by a two-thirds vote of all the members of each house. In that case, such act took effect immediately upon its passage and approval[.] Hodges, 43 S.D. at 174, 178 N.W. at 577. [¶ 24.] The movement for the initiative and referendum began in 1885 and continued for the next thirteen years as the Farmer's Alliance, the Knights of Labor, the Initiative and Referendum League, and the Populist Party kept the issue before the people through a non-partisan educational campaign that turned into a political movement. Robinson at 351-354; H. Roger Grant, Origins of a Progressive Reform: The Initiative and Referendum Movement in South Dakota, Vol. 3, No. 4 South Dakota History 390 (1973); see also History of the Initiative and Referendum in South Dakota, Legislative Reference Bulletin No. 3 (Pierre 1918); Burton Ellsworth Tiffany, The Initiative and Referendum in South Dakota, South Dakota Historical Collections 12 (1924). The movement was spurred by economic unrest, the complacency of political leaders, as well as a spirit of political independence. Herbert S. Schell, History of South Dakota 223 (3d ed., revised, University of Nebraska Press 1975). Direct democracy was seen as a way to cleanse the legislative process. Grant, supra, Vol. 3, No. 4, South Dakota History at 394. The movement gained the platform to successfully launch this proposal when in 1896 the Populists gained control of both houses of the legislature and the governorship. Herbert S. Schell, Andrew E. Lee, Over a Century of Leadership: South Dakota Territorial and State Governors 67-69. [¶ 25.] In 1897 a majority of the members of each house of the legislature then controlled by the Populists, proposed amending article III, § 1 of the constitution to provide for the initiative and referendum. In the ensuing campaign, Populist Governor Andrew O. Lee, a chief proponent of the proposal, argued that the passage of the initiative and referendum would end the powers of special interests, save taxpayers money, and enable citizens to secure various pieces of needed legislation. Schell, Andrew E. Lee, Over a Century of Leadership at 68. [¶ 26.] The electorate approved the amendment on November 8, 1898. This amendment provided for initiative and referendum as follows: The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a legislature which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives, except that the people expressly reserve to themselves the right to propose measures, which measures the legislature shall enact and submit to a vote of the electors of the state, and also the right to require that any laws which the legislature may have enacted shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state before going into effect, except such laws as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions. Provided, that not more than five per centum of the qualified electors of the state shall be required to invoke either the initiative of the referendum. This section shall not be construed so as to deprive the legislature or any member thereof of the right to propose any measure. The veto power of the executive shall not be exercised as to measures referred to a vote of the people. This section shall apply to municipalities. The enacting clause of all laws approved by vote of the electors of the state shall be, Be it enacted by the people of South Dakota. The legislature shall make suitable provisions for carrying into effect the provisions of this section. By adopting this amendment the people expressly reserved to themselves the right to propose measures, the initiative, as well as the right to require that any laws which the legislature may have enacted shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state before going into effect, the referendum. [6] [¶ 27.] The first statewide use of the initiative and referendum was at the November 1908 general election. 1909 South Dakota Legislative Manual at 373. The people initiated an act to provide for the licensing, restricting and regulation of the business of the manufacture and sale of spirituous and intoxicating liquors. 1907 S.D.Sess.L. ch. 179. Section 6 of this act provided: All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. 1907 S.D.Sess.L. ch. 179 § 6. [7] [¶ 28.] Robinson reports numerous other attempts at initiative following its constitutional adoption. Some proposals passed while many did not. Despite numerous attempts to amend existing laws, nowhere in our reported decisions of that era was the claim advanced that initiatives may not repeal or amend existing state laws adopted by the legislature. Quite to the contrary, in several instances they did. [8] While not dispositive, we have found that how drafters and the courts treat amendments in the years following the enactments provides guidance in our interpretation. Doe, 2004 SD 62 at ¶ 7, 680 N.W.2d at 307.