PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Republican lawmakers on Wednesday dismissed a proposal to require Gov. Kristi Noem’s Secretary of Tribal Relations to report to a legislative committee that handles tribal issues.
The relationship between the governor’s office and lawmakers who focus on tribal issues has often become contentious, as they wrestled over last year’s State of the Tribes address and the governor’s handling of the pandemic.
Democrat Rep. Shawn Bordeaux, who chaired the committee last year, made the proposal to require Secretary Dave Flute to attend the committee meetings after he declined invitations last year. The bill also would have required Flute to make an annual report to the committee and would have created an advisory council representing the nine tribes.
“I’ve seen nothing but chaos from this department and it’s really frustrating,” Bordeaux said.
But Noem’s office defended Flute’s absence.
“Anyone who listens to the disrespectful way that certain committee members have treated Secretary Flute at past meetings will understand why this invitation was declined,” the governor’s spokesman Ian Fury said.
Republican lawmakers said they would prefer to see Noem’s administration and the committee find ways to communicate without intervention.
Republican Rep. Kevin Jensen said, “I have a hard time with legislating cooperation.”
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