Trio of labor bills from Sen. Nesiba die at the South Dakota Capitol (Audio)

February 7, 2024

PIERRE, S.D.–A trio of pro-labor bills died on party-line votes in a Senate committee Tuesday.

On 8 to 1 votes, the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee sent the bills to the 41st legislative day, killing them.

Democrat Senator Reynold Nesiba (pictured) from Sioux Falls sponsored all three bills.

One of them would have increased the reporting time for a workplace injury from three to 30 days.

Another bill would have made discrimination based on one’s hairstyle an unfair labor practice.

The third bill would have made large warehouses like Amazon provide workers with the efficiency standards they are judged by.

Representatives from the Teamsters Union and the AFL-CIO supported the three bills.

Representatives from the state chamber of commerce and business groups opposed the measures.

South Dakota State Labor Federation lobbyist Kory Rawstern spoke in favor of the Amazon bill……

The South Dakota Retailers Association’s Bill Van Camp disagreed.

The eight Republicans on the panel voted to kill the trio of bills, while Nesiba, the one Democrat on the committee, was the only lawmaker supporting them.