Gubernatorial candidate and State Senator Billie Sutton has unveiled a set of proposals that he says will restore trust and integrity to South Dakota government.
The Democrat from Burke says South Dakotans are disillusioned about what goes on in Pierre. He says his plan includes changes to campaign financing, public records, and conflict of interest laws.
Sutton says these policies plus legislation to ban self-dealing will put safeguards in place to prevent situations like EB-5 or Gear Up.
"Most of those dollars were administered by the State and it was state players that either mismanaged or self-dealt some of those funds, and that's what this plan is targeted at. Those two instances are definitely at the top of the list as to the problems. But, I think we need to take a deeper look at all the federal dollars - any state dollars that are here and then federal dollars as well; because, there are a lot of them out there that probably need a little more oversight,” Sutton says.
He also wants to extend the state ethics commission to oversee all branches of government and require lobbyists to disclose more information about how much money they spend to appeal to lawmakers.
Sutton does not have an opponent at this point for the June 5th Democratic Party primary election. The Republican primary features U.S. Representative Kristi Noem squaring off against South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.