SDHSAA transparency bill passes Senate
The South Dakota High School Activities Association should be subject to the same open government laws as the school boards that authorized it, state senators said Wednesday.
The activities association is a private nonprofit authorized by South Dakota law — a quasi-public entity that is under intense scrutiny from lawmakers this year.
"This legislation is overdue," said Sen. Bill Van Gerpen, R-Tyndall. "In South Dakota, discussions related to student activities, whenever possible, should be open."
School boards, which are public bodies required to hold open meetings, are allowed by state law to delegate part of their authority to the activities association to run sports and other activities.
Many lawmakers said they thought SDHSAA should have to abide by the same open government laws as school boards.
"Do we want to allow entities that are public in nature that have responsibility under the open meetings rules, to be able to delegate those responsibilities to an entity that then can... operate under a closed meeting environment?" said Sen. Alan Solano, R-Rapid City.
Several lawmakers balked at the legislation.
Sen. Chuck Welke, D-Warner, said lawmakers should be more trusting of the activities association.
"Any time I've ever asked for information from the South Dakota High School Activities Association, they've been very good about giving me everything I needed," Welke said.
Sen. Billie Sutton, D-Burke, said he didn't think a law is needed because SDHSAA has passed a resolution and amendment to its constitution codifying its approach to transparency.
"I just didn't feel they should be regulated like a governmental entity," Sutton said. "They are also taking steps to address it within their association. They've already passed a resolution to do so. For me, that was what I was looking for."
Sutton was one of five senators to vote against the bill applying open government laws to SDHSAA. Another 29 voted for the measure, sending it on to the South Dakota Senate.
