A RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL, Proposing to disapprove Executive Order 2021-03 as set forth on pages 52 to 64, inclusive, of the Senate Journal.

WHEREAS, the Governor of the state of South Dakota has submitted to the Ninety-Sixth Legislature on the fifth day thereof Executive Order 2021-03; and

WHEREAS, Executive Order 2021-03 proposes to abolish the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and to create a new Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, agriculture is South Dakota's number one industry and economic driver and deserves a state department whose resources and expertise are devoted to the promotion of the agriculture industry; and

WHEREAS, forty-eight states, including South Dakota, have recognized the necessity of having a stand-alone Department of Agriculture; and

WHEREAS, the current missions of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as independent departments serve as a valuable check and balance on the other department; and

WHEREAS, a combination of the two departments will diminish the focus of services to the the agricultural producers in the state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Senate of the Ninety-Sixth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that Executive Order 2021-03 presented to the Ninety-Sixth Legislature as the same appears in the Senate Journal on pages 52 to 64, inclusive, is hereby disapproved pursuant to S.D. Const., Art. IV, § 8.