T. Belman. Noem had my full support til now. To my mind, to not support this bill is political suicide. Yet the poll indicates only 53% support the bill. Unbelievable.
By Rebecca Downs, TOWNHALL
Conservative female icon, Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD), shocked her base on Friday when she sent a bill back to the state legislature which would ban biological males from competing in sports against females.After initially expressing hesitation on Thursday in an interview with The Argus Leader, Noem also spelled out her concerns on Friday in a lengthy twitter thread.
The full letter with the governor’s suggestions is available through the state news website.
The legislation, HR 1217, “An Act to promote continued fairness in women’s sports,” would “prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports,” as the American Principles Project (APP) explained on their website in support of the legislation.
Considering that the governor retweeted the organization’s tweet to announce she would sign the bill, that Gov. Noem sent it back to the legislature came as a shock. APP’s Jon Schweppe, who serves as the director of government affairs, told Townhall that it was “a bunch of malarkey.”
Schweppe raised concerns that what Noem is doing is “proposing to gut the bill to such a degree so it would not have any effect at all.” When it comes to Noem’s claims that the emphasis is on “Style and Form,” Schweppe said this kind of veto, outlined in the South Dakota Constitution, is more so designed for typos, slight changes to sentences, and other such revisions. He even called it “unconstitutional” for Noem to claim to use her veto power in that way and that it would be “a misuse of her executive power.”
In response to Noem’s claims that her suggestions were “to address the potential unintended consequences of HB 1217 as originally enrolled,” Schweppe pushed back and emphasized that with such changes, the bill would not have its intended effect. It may be a way for Noem to still claim to support it, he offered.
Keloland.com reported that State Sen. Maggie Sutton had similar concerns about the bill’s effectiveness in that case:
Sutton said Friday she was “very disappointed” that the governor issued a style-and-form veto.
“The recommended changes will substantially change the content of the bill. The legality was removed, which leaves the bill with a very weak authority. Removing the collegiate is simply saying that biology matters in high school, but not in college,” Sutton said.
As to why Noem would not sign the legislation, Schweppe pointed out she “only listened to the bill’s most fervent opponents” and likely caved to pressures from the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Regents. One of Noem’s stated concerns was:
I am also concerned that the approach House Bill 1217 takes is unrealistic in the context of collegiate athletics. In South Dakota, we are proud of our universities’ athletic programs, and in particular the great strides we have taken to gain national exposure and increase opportunities for our next generation over the past two decades.
Schweppe assured Townhall that there will be pushback forcing Noem to choose between a real veto or signing the bill into law. “Conservatives in the state and Republicans in the legislature do not see this as a legitimate veto,” he said.
Terry Schilling, the executive director of APP, also emailed a statement which read:
“We are extremely disappointed to see Gov. Noem break her word on this critical legislation. For more than a week, Noem’s office has frozen out advocates of HB 1217 and instead taken advice from the bill’s most vocal critics, which include the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and the South Dakota Board of Regents.
“Gov. Noem’s veto would scrap the vast majority of the bill text and would strip protections for female athletes in collegiate sports in the state. Additionally, it would eliminate all reasonable enforcement mechanisms, neutering the legislation so much as to render it meaningless. All the while, Noem continues to claim dubiously that she still supports the bill, hoping South Dakotans will ignore the fact she was responsible for killing it.
“By standing with Joe Biden and the radical left against protecting women’s sports, Noem has irreparably damaged her standing with both her own constituents as well as Americans nationally who have been looking to her for bold leadership. This betrayal will have political consequences.”
Noem didn’t herself any favors with the American Civil Liberties Union either, though, which has tweeted against the bill, in South Dakota and other states, and took issue with Noem not vetoing it all together. The Human Rights Campaign had a similar reaction.
The Republican party has split into two distinct camps. One was present in Washington on Jan. 6. It calls itself the MAGA movement with President Trump seen as its leader. The other was in conference on Jan. 6, trying to decide exactly how they were going to remove Trump from party leader. It includes all of the establishment types such as the Bush’s, McConnell, Haley, etc. Every member of the Republican party, and everyone who has supported Trump over this past four years will have to choose between these two camps – there is no alliance to be had between the two groups. The two camps have many different positions and allies which are fundamentally repugnant to each other – its the revolutionary concept of America first vs the traditioanal China sell out politics as usual. Noem decided to support transgender rights, the Education department and the Chamber of Congress against all other voices in this debacle which the lines in the sand could not be more clear. Consequently, we now know that Noem, unfortunate as it is surprising, has allied herself with the China alligned establishment against MAGA. No way to walk this back or explain. Her attempt to Veto the bill by using a subtle procedural veto speaks to her discomfort with her own decision and her lack of conviction with her own actions, but decide she did(curious why she did this – she clearly didn’t want to). Like I said, there are two camps with no common ground and Noem has made her choice clear to all.
Transgenders should run against transgenders!