The amendment removes a provision prohibiting public education employers from denying labor organizations equal access to employer facilities and resources, instead requiring employers to favor one labor organization or affiliate over another—significantly WEAKENING protections for union access and effectively REDIRECTING the bill to give employers greater power to discriminate between different labor organizations.
26.827.13 26.827.14 101st Legislative Session 1217 2026 South Dakota Legislature House Bill 1217 HOUSE EDUCATION ENGROSSED Introduced by: Representative Hughes Underscores indicate new language. Overstrikes indicate deleted language. An Act to limit the use of taxpayer funds and resources by a public education 1 employer to support a labor organization or affiliate and to provide a penalty 2 therefor. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 4 Section 1. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-1: 5 Terms used in this section and sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this Act, mean: 6 (1) "Affiliate," any membership organization affiliated with a labor organization; 7 (2) "Employee," any individual employed by a public education employer; 8 (3) "Labor organization," any person, employee representation committee, plan in 9 which employees participate, or other organization, which exists wholly or in part 10 for the purpose of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, 11 wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment; 12 (4) "Labor organization activities," an activity undertaken by, at the direction or on 13 behalf of, or to advance the purposes of, a labor organization or affiliate to: 14 (a) Support or oppose a candidate for federal, state, or local office; 15 (b) Influence the passage or defeat of any federal or state legislation or 16 regulation, local ordinance or resolution, or ballot question; 17 (c) Promote or solicit membership or participation in, or financial support of, a 18 labor organization or an affiliate; 19 (d) Seek certification as an exclusive representative pursuant to chapter 3-18; 20 (e) Participate in the administration, business, or internal governance of a labor 21 organization or an affiliate; 22 (f) Prepare, conduct, or attend a labor organization event, conference, 23 convention, meeting, or training, unless the training is directly related to or 24 required for the performance of an employee's job duties; 25 (g) Distribute labor organization or affiliate communications; 26 26.827.13 26.827.14 2 1217 Underscores indicate new language. Overstrikes indicate deleted language. (h) Represent or speak on behalf of a labor organization or an affiliate in any 1 setting, venue, or procedure in which the public education employer is not 2 a participant; or 3 (i) Any representational activity; 4 (5) "Public education employer," a school district, as defined by § 13-5-1; a 5 cooperative education service unit, established pursuant to § 13-5-31; the Board 6 of Technical Education or any institution under its control; or the Board of Regents 7 or any institution under its control; and 8 (6) "Representational activities," an activity undertaken by, at the direction or on 9 behalf of, or to advance the purposes of, a labor organization or affiliate to: 10 (a) Prepare, file, or pursue a grievance; 11 (b) Represent an employee in an investigatory interview, disciplinary 12 proceeding, or appeal, up to and including termination, or other 13 administrative or legal proceeding; 14 (c) Engage in any form of labor negotiation or related mediation; 15 (d) Administer a negotiated contract or agreement with a public education 16 employer; or 17 (e) Participate in a labor management committee. 18 Section 2. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-1: 19 A public education employer or any agent, representative, or other person acting 20 on behalf of a public education employer may not use, or authorize the use of, any public 21 moneys to support a labor organization by: 22 (1) Deducting dues, fees, assessments, fines, or contributions from the pay of any 23 employee on behalf of any labor organization or affiliate, notwithstanding the 24 provisions of § 3-10-8; 25 (2) Increasing the compensation of any employee with the intent that the additional 26 compensation, or any part of it, be used to pay the dues, fees, assessments, fines, 27 or contributions for a labor organization or affiliate; 28 (3) Providing to a labor organization, any personal information of an employee other 29 than the information that the employer is required to disclose under chapter 1-27, 30 without the written authorization of the employee; 31 (4) Requiring or otherwise coercing an employee to meet, communicate, listen to, or 32 otherwise interact with a labor organization or affiliate; 33 26.827.13 26.827.14 3 1217 Underscores indicate new language. Overstrikes indicate deleted language. (5) Distributing communications or membership solicitations on behalf of a labor 1 organization or affiliate; 2 (6) Favoring or endorsing any labor organization; 3 (7) Denying any labor organization or affiliate over another labor 3 organization or an entity governed by chapters 47-22 to 47-28, inclusive; 4 inclusive, access to or use of the public education employer's meetings, events, 5 communications systems, computer systems, facilities, equipment, supplies, or 6 other resources if the public education employer permits similar access to another 7 labor organization or affiliate; 8 (8) (7) Contributing public moneys, moneys to, or otherwise expend expending public moneys on behalf of, 5 a 9 labor organization or affiliate; or 10 (9) 6 (8) Except as otherwise provided in section 3 of this Act, providing any form of 11 7 compensation or paid leave to an employee, directly or indirectly, for the purpose 12 8 of engaging in labor organization activities. 13 9 Section 3. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-1: 14 A 10 To the extent a public education employer is authorized to engage in collective 11 bargaining under chapter 3-18, the public education employer may enter into a contract 12 or agreement with a labor 15 organization to permit an employee to: 16 13 (1) Take time off from the employee's work, without pay or benefits, to engage in labor 17 14 organization activities, for which the employee may be compensated by a labor 18 15 organization; 19 16 (2) Use paid time off, whether earned by the employee as part of the employee's 20 17 compensation or donated to the employee by another individual employed in a 21 18 similar capacity by the public education employer, to engage in labor organization 22 19 activities, if: 23 20 (a) The employee may freely choose how to use the leave; and 24 21 (b) Any donated leave was accrued by the other employee at the same rate 25 22 regardless of whether the donating employee is a member of or otherwise 26 23 participates in a labor organization; and 27 24 (3) Engage in representational activities during working hours, while employed with 25 the public education 28 employer, without the loss of pay or benefits, if: 29 26 (a) The labor organization for which the employee performs the 30 27 representational activity provides a statement to the public education 31 28 employer at least twice each calendar year, documenting the amount of 32 29 time, rounded to the nearest quarter-hour, on which the employee has 33 30 spent performing a representational activity each day; 34 26.827.13 4 1217 Underscores indicate new language. Overstrikes indicate deleted language. 31 (b) Upon receipt of the statement provided pursuant to subsection (a), the 1 32 public education employer calculates the pro rata value of wages and 2 33 benefits paid to or accrued by each employee for the time spent engaged 3 34 26.827.14 4 1217 Underscores indicate new language. Overstrikes indicate deleted language. in a representation representational activity and submits an invoice to the labor 1 organization 4 for the amounts calculated; and 5 2 (c) The labor organization remits full payment to the public education employer 6 3 within thirty days of receiving the invoice submitted pursuant to subsection 7 4 (b). 8 5 Section 4. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-1: 9 6 Any person who violates section 2 or 3 of this Act is subject to a civil penalty not 10 7 to exceed the amount of moneys inappropriately collected via payroll deduction or the fair 11 8 market value of the public education moneys or resources inappropriately used to support 12 9 a labor organization or affiliate. The civil penalty may be assessed and recovered only in 10 a civil action by the attorney general. 11 The attorney general shall forward any civil penalty 13 collected under this section to 12 the state treasurer, for deposit in the general fund. 14 13 Section 5. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-1: 15 14 Any person may file a complaint alleging a violation of section 2 or 3 of this Act, 16 15 with the attorney general or the state's attorney for the county in which a violation is 17 alleged to have occurred. 18 general. 16 An employee, public education employer, labor organization, affiliate, or other legal 19 17 resident of the jurisdiction in which the alleged violation occurred is entitled to: 20 18 (1) Injunctive relief against any person who violates or threatens to violate the 21 19 provisions of section 2 or 3 of this Act; and 22 20 (2) Recover any and all damages, including reasonable costs and attorney's fees, 23 21 resulting from the violation or threatened violation. 24 22