PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Disagreement over whether or not the Legislature should take action this year to stifle children’s access to pornography has forced lawmakers to go to a conference committee.
The House voted Tuesday afternoon to send HB 1257 to a conference committee. In its original form, that bill would have required that sites that exist primarily for the purpose of giving a platform to pornography would have to implement safeguards in order to verify the age of its users, thus intended to prevent those under the age of 18 from watching porn.
However, the Senate yesterday massively changed the bill, so that now it would require a summer study to be commissioner by legislative leadership to study the impact of pornography consumption on children, and to draft legislation for the 2025 session. Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck made that amendment, raising concerns that the bill as originally written could be better crafted if given a year of consideration — helping the Legislature to avoid legal challenges.
The bill’s House prime sponsor disagrees. Rep. Bethany Soye of Sioux Falls wants it back in its original form.
“The bill was totally changed (in the Senate) and we typically don’t put summer studies into statute because anyone can suggest one,” Soye said.
Should South Dakota find a way to pass the bipartisan bill in its original form, it would be far from the first state to have done so.
Montana, North Carolina, Virginia, Utah and Mississippi have all passed similar legislation, intended to tamp down on kid’s access to porn.
Meanwhile, Gov. Kristi Noem says that she’d like to see legislation limiting kids’ access to porn reach her desk before session wraps up this week.