House concurs in Senate amendments to HB 12-39 after heated debate over school and library appeals process

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted to concur in Senate amendments to House Bill 12-39 after intense debate over whether the measure would criminalize librarians or instead create a civil path for parents to challenge school and library materials. The House passed the substitute motion to concur 36–34.

Representative Zwick, who described how the House arrived at the bill, said the Senate amendment "totally and completely gutted the bill" the House originally sent over and included a last-minute change. Zwick said the amended language, as returned from the Senate, "makes it so it absolutely does nothing" and argued for a conference committee to fix what he described as process problems.

Representative Van Diepen offered a substitute motion to concur in the Senate amendment. Van Diepen said the amended bill "actually does more than just let you appeal to the school board. If you read…