Lawmakers urge booster-seat veto override

By Bill Harlan, Journal staff | Saturday, March 24, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY--Two Rapid City legislators have launched a last-minute campaign to rescue a child booster-seat law from Gov. Rounds’ veto.

“The bottom line comes down to either we’re for safety or we’re not,” Rep. Ed McLaughlin, R-Rapid City, said Wednesday at a press conference at the Rapid City office of the South Dakota AAA.

House Bill 1189 would have required children ages 5 through 7 to sit in booster seats.

“Adult lap belts and shoulder belts do not fit the anatomy of these kids,” Rep. Don Van Etten, R-Rapid City, said.

The booster seats, which cost about $20, offer a transition from the child-restraint seats already required for children under 5 years old.

The Legislature meets for its 40th and final day of the 2007 session on Monday, March 26, and it will consider vetoes.

Van Etten and McLaughlin acknowledged they’d have to change some minds to win the two thirds majorities necessary to defeat the veto. The bill passed the House 37 to 31, but supporters need 48 votes to override the veto. The Senate passed the bill 21 to 14, but 24 votes are needed to override.

Van Etten said booster seats lower the risk of injury for children 5 through 7 by 59 percent.

Gov. Rounds wrote in his veto message, "While promoting and encouraging parents to use booster seats is sound public policy that I support, I do not believe mandating and criminalizing their conduct is good public policy."

But Mark Majeda of the South Dakota AAA, which also supports the measure, said the bill called only for warning tickets. He said the governor’s criticism was “hyper-hyperbolic.”

Majeda also pointed out that 38 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws.

Susan Randall of the advocacy group South Dakota Voices for Children urged people to contact their legislators between now and Monday. “We’re trying to raise awareness,” she said.

Contact Harlan at 394-8424 or at bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com