South Dakota legislature adopts bill barring public agencies from collecting, releasing information about nonprofit donors

On March 8, the South Dakota state Senate approved a bill that would bar public agencies from requiring individuals or groups to disclose identifying information about a nonprofit’s donors, clearing the way for Gov. Kristi Noem (R) to sign it into law.

What the bill does

SB103 would bar any public agency (including state and municipal government units and courts) from:

Requiring a tax-exempt nonprofit to provide a public agency with “personal affiliation information,” defined as “any list, record, register, registry, roll, roster, or other compilation of any kind that directly or indirectly identifies a natural person as a member, supporter, volunteer, or donor of financial or nonfinancial support to any nonprofit corporation.”
Publicly disclosing any such information a public agency may already possess.
Requiring a current or prospective contractor to provide a public agency with a list of the nonprofits “to which it has provided financial or nonfinancial support.”

The legislation does not bar public agencies from furnishing personal information about a nonprofit’s donors, supporters, etc., for:

Campaign finance reporting requirements.
A lawful warrant for personal affiliation information.
A lawful request for discovery of personal affiliation information in litigation, if the requestor “demonstrates a compelling need” for the information and “obtains a protective order barring disclosure” of information to anyone not named in the litigation.
A sales or use tax audit of a nonprofit by the Department of Revenue.
An audit, examination, or investigation of a nonprofit corporation conducted under state law.

Other states considering similar legislation: Iowa (HF309, HSB28, and SSB1036), Nebraska (LB370), and Tennessee (HB0159 and SB1608). All three states are Republican trifectas.

Legislative history

Sens. Casey Crabtree and James Bolin and Reps. Kirk Chaffee, Tim Goodwin, and Tim Reed – all Republicans – introduced SB103 on Jan. 26. On Feb. 17, the state Senate approved the bill, sending it to the South Dakota House of Representatives. On March 3, the House approved an amended version of the bill 55-13, with 55 Republicans voting in favor and eight Democrats and five Republicans voting against it. The Senate unanimously agreed to the amendments on March 8. Noem is expected to sign SB103 into law.

Political context: South Dakota is a Republican trifecta, meaning Republicans control the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature. South Dakota has been a Republican trifecta since 1995.

Other relevant legislation in South Dakota

HB1079, signed into law on March 3, prohibits any executive branch entity (e.g., the governor, the secretary of state, etc.) from requiring “any annual filing or reporting of a nonprofit corporation or charitable trust that is more stringent, restrictive, or expansive than that required by state or federal law.” It does not apply to information required “to determine eligibility for or compliance with a state grant or contract.” The bill also exempts information required for, or obtained during, a state fraud investigation or enforcement action.

Reactions

Mark Miller, an attorney for Noem, said the following in support of HB1079: “What is this bill about? It’s really about the American way of life. … It’s also meant to return us to the traditional role of anonymity in support for certain causes that one believes in.”

Rep. Ryan Cwach (D), who voted against both SB103 and HB1079, said, “We expect accountability and we expect transparency from our government, and so the idea that we want to try and keep how people are influencing our government anonymous goes against the whole bedrock of our society.”

What we’re reading

The big picture

Number of relevant bills by state: We’re currently tracking 34 pieces of legislation dealing with donor disclosure. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking.

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status:

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s):

Recent legislative actions

For complete information on all of the bills we are tracking, click here.

California AB236: This bill would require campaign finance committees to report the name of “each individual who owns or controls, or controls the contributions and expenditures of, a limited liability company or a foreign limited liability company from which the committee received a campaign contribution.”
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Re-referred to the Assembly Elections Committee on March 11.
Idaho H0245: This bill would prohibit foreign contributions, independent expenditures, and electioneering in Idaho election campaigns.
- Sponsorship not specified.
- The House approved the bill on March 9. It was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 10.
Montana SB162: This bill would redefine “electioneering communication” to exempt any “communication by a religious organization exempt from federal income tax when compliance with [state campaign finance laws] would burden the organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs or practice.”
- Republican sponsorship.
- House State Administration Committee hearing scheduled for March 16.
Nebraska LB370: This bill would prohibit a public agency from disclosing identifying information about a nonprofit’s donors.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for March 11.
Pennsylvania HB852: This bill would require a nonprofit that expects to make contributions or expenditures of $25,000 or more in a calendar year to a political committee or campaign to file a statement of organization with the Department of State. The nonprofit would also be required to file a report of the source of the 10 largest cumulative payments of $10,000 or more it received in the current calendar year from a single person.
- Bipartisan sponsorship.
- Introduced and referred to the House State Government Committee on March 10.
Rhode Island S0620: This bill would revise the definition of a “business entity” under the state’s campaign finance laws to include nonprofits.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 11.
South Dakota SB103: This bill would prohibit public agencies from requiring any person or nonprofit to provide identifying information about a nonprofit’s donors. It would also prohibit the disclosure of any such information currently in a public agency’s possession.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Delivered to the governor on March 11.
Tennessee HB0159: This bill would prohibit a public agency from disclosing identifying information about a nonprofit’s donors.
- Republican sponsorship.
- House Civil Justice Subcommittee hearing scheduled for March 16.
Tennessee SB1608: This bill would prohibit a public agency from disclosing identifying information about a nonprofit’s donors.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Senate State and Local Government Committee hearing scheduled for March 16.
West Virginia HB2932: This bill would prohibit a state agency from imposing additional requirements beyond those already existing on the registration, reporting or operation of a charitable organization.
- Republican sponsorship.
- The House approved the bill on March 12 and referred it to the Senate.

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