Western South Dakota could be a key battleground in the fight over a proposed law that would ban the use of tax money for campaigns or lobbying, restrict campaign contributions by those with government contracts and make those contracts open to public scrutiny.

With polling indicating almost 80 percent support in the Black Hills region for Initiated Measure 10, opponents came to Rapid City on Wednesday as part of a statewide blitz against the proposal. They said approval of the initiative would amount to a public gag order for citizens with even thin connections to government and would unduly infringe on existing government processes.

It also would likely be challenged on constitutional grounds, they said. Yet the initiative is receiving strong support in the Black Hills, according to recent surveys.

"We're looking at 77 percent approval in the Hills for this initiative," Vote No On Initiative 10 spokesman Steve Willard of Pierre said. "And it's not true. What they're saying is not true."

Willard, a lobbyist in the state legislature, represents a coalition of about 50 organizations opposing the measure. They include the state Democratic and Republican parties, the South Dakota AFL-CIO, Associated General Contractors, South Dakota Farmers Union, South Dakota Farm Bureau, the South Dakota Retailers, South Dakota Sheriffs' Association, the South Dakota State Employees Organization and South Dakota Coalition of Schools.

Willard said such broad-based support is unusual in a political campaign, proof that the initiative is deeply flawed.

"It's much more of a gag law than anything else," Willard said. "And it's a gag law that is causing a lot of people to come together."

Willard and other critics say the measure would deny people with even distant connections to state or local government a chance to participate in the policy process. If passed, it also would likely be challenged in court - and have to be defended at state expense, they said.

Supporters argue that the measure would fight influence peddling in state government by drawing a line between private contributions and government contracts. It also would end the use of taxpayer dollars in supporting campaigns and lobbying efforts that often benefit tax-supported government agencies and private groups, they said.

Dena Espenscheid, the East River field director for YES on 10, said the coalition opposing the initiative only seems diverse. In reality, the groups are tied together by their interest in maintaining a financially interconnected status quo that most taxpayers find objectionable.

"Politicians, tax-funded lobbyists, lawyers and no-bid contractors are threatened by Yes on 10," she said. "I'm always speechless at this (opposition). I challenge people to read the law."

The text of the measure, along with a description by South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long and opponents and supporters, is available on the South Dakota secretary of state's Web site, www.sdsos.gov.

Both sides say they are planning intensive public-education campaigns to clear up misconceptions about the initiative. They disagree on what the misconceptions are.

Willard said the initiative implies that elected officials across the state are engaging in unethical behavior, a notion he rejects.

"If you're lying and deceiving, you'll have a short tenure as an elected official," he said.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com