House Journal 03/26/2007 10:00 AM

March 20, 2007

The Honorable Thomas J. Deadrick
Speaker of House
State Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501

Dear Mr. Speaker and Members of the House:

I herewith return House Bill 1131 and VETO the same.

House Bill 1131 is entitled, "An Act to increase the amount of funding for conservation and value-added agriculture purposes from certain unclaimed motor fuel tax refunds."

The bill proposes to change the formula for calculating the amount of unclaimed tax refunds from the sale of motor fuel tax for non-highway agricultural purposes. The result of the change would be to increase the amount of such unclaimed refunds, which amount would then be transferred from the state highway fund to the coordinated soil and water conservation program.

The new calculation method provided by House Bill 1131 will result in much higher diversions from the state highway fund to the coordinated soil and water conservation program. Last year, under the calculation method set forth in present law, the coordinated soil and water conservation program received approximately $508,000 from the state highway fund. Current law caps annual diversions from the highway fund at one million five hundred thousand dollars. Under House Bill 1131, the new calculation method will likely yield an annual highway fund diversion that reaches the bill's higher cap of two million five hundred thousand dollars.

The state highway fund pays for construction, maintenance and supervision of highways and bridges in South Dakota. Building and maintaining safe highways and bridges is a key component to economic development in our state. I recognize that soil and water conservation is important, but money for those activities should not come from the state highway fund, which is presently experiencing a funding crisis. Unprecedented federal funding rescissions in fiscal year 2006 resulted in the loss of twenty-three million dollars to the state highway fund. Future federal funding is, at best, uncertain. Meanwhile, state tax revenue projections for our highway fund are declining, and there have been huge and unexpected increases in construction costs.
In 2007 and 2008, planned highway projects totaling over one hundred million dollars will have to be deferred to a later date. The convergence of the reduction of federal and state revenues available and the rising cost of construction make it critical for us to protect and preserve the state highway fund.

Recognizing the importance of the Coordinated Soil and Water Conservation program, I am committed to finding a source of one-time money for this fiscal year, and a funding solution long term to ensure the continued health of this important program, I simply cannot afford to divert the necessary resources from the highway fund during this critical time.

Due to the negative impact on funding for highway and bridge construction and maintenance, I respectfully request that you concur with my action.

Respectfully submitted,
M. Michael Rounds
Governor

March 6, 2007

The Honorable Thomas J. Deadrick
Speaker of House
State Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501-5070

Dear Mr. Speaker and Members of the House:

I herewith return House Bill 1189 and VETO the same.

House Bill 1189 is entitled, "An Act to require certain children to be in booster seats when in a motor vehicle."

The bill proposes to criminalize the failure to place children between 5 and 8 weighing less than 80 pounds in a booster seat. I want to make it abundantly clear that I support the concept of booster seats and child safety in motor vehicles. In fact, my Project 8 Child Seat Program specifically promotes and encourages parents to ensure the appropriate children are transported using booster seats.

While promoting and encouraging parents to use booster seats is sound public policy that I support, I do not believe mandating and criminalizing their conduct is good public policy. I can think of a plethora of circumstances where compliance with this law is unworkable. Parents with large families and neighbors dropping children off at school come immediately to mind. I will not force South Dakota citizens to weigh their passengers before deciding whether to transport them to the movies. How can a law enforcement officer enforce this law? Are we going to provide scales to law enforcement to weigh each child before writing a warning ticket? Are we going to require children to carry identification or a birth certificate to prove their age? Simply put, I can support any type of encouragement to utilize booster seats short of making the failure to do so a violation of the law. Sometimes good advice does not make good law.

For the reasons stated above, and because I believe this bill is unenforceable if passed, I respectfully request that you concur with my action.

Respectfully submitted,
M. Michael Rounds
Governor

CONSIDERATION OF EXECUTIVE VETOES AND RECOMMENDATIONS