PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The state House has approved Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s public safety bill addressing potential oil pipeline protests in South Dakota.
Members voted 55-12 Thursday for the bill after it initially failed to receive the two-thirds majority required to pass it. The Senate is to take up plan Friday.
A House-Senate negotiating committee earlier Thursday put an emergency provision back into the bill, which would make it take effect immediately.
The bill would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor for someone to stand in the highway to stop traffic or to trespass in a posted emergency area, among other provisions.
Matt Konenkamp, a policy adviser to the governor, says that Daugaard is inviting South Dakota tribal leaders to discuss with public safety officials and others how best to manage possible protests collaboratively.
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