Adding five more days to the South Dakota Legislature's session every other year would cost taxpayers unnecessary dollars, opponents have said of a proposed state constitutional amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Constitutional Amendment I would allow the Legislature to meet annually in a session no longer than 40 days. Currently, the Legislature meets 40 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years.

Bill Peterson of Sioux Falls, House majority leader from 2001-2004, said that tradition is the only reason the two sessions are not the same length.

"The nice thing is the Legislature doesn't have to use it if they don't need it," he said.

Peterson said the proposed change is in response to the increasing power of the executive branch - demonstrated by the imbalance between the governor's full-time work and the legislators' part-time work in a year.

He said it would help correct that imbalance by giving legislators the option of working more days.

Peterson said lawmakers should have the flexibility of an extra five days if they need it, especially when making decisions about a multimillion-dollar budget.

He said he has been in a 35-day session when they were done early and in a 40-day session "when we worked right up to the last minute."

But opponents of the amendment say legislators are able to get their work done in 35 days and that more time would cost too much money.

State Sen. Royal "Mac" McCracken of Rapid City said he is opposed to the amendment, and if the sessions need to be the same length, he would make them both 35 days.

"If you can't get your work done in 35 days, there's something wrong," he said. "You just work harder and longer in 35 days to get it done. With 40 days, the work fills up the time."

State Sen. Jerry Apa of Lead, chairman of the appropriations committee, agrees.

"The big money issues don't get settled until the end because of different competing agendas. Nothing gets done until the last couple days," he said. "An extra five days does not work for the taxpayer. We have plenty of time to get our job done."

Opponents have also said the change would cost more. Each legislator would earn an additional $550, along with extra travel costs and staff expenses, equaling $115,000.

Apa wrote in opposition of the amendment for the ballot-issue explanation pamphlet complied by the South Dakota Secretary of State; he said groups, boards and cities would also suffer under the change because their representatives would travel to Pierre an extra week for lobbying.

But Peterson said the extra cost is worth the extra time to responsibly deal with a $3.2 billion yearly budget.

"If we need a few extra days to spend that kind of money, I think it's money worth spending," he said. "At the end of the day, this is about good government, and it's a small change."

Also on the ballot is a proposed change to the 5-cents-per-mile travel reimbursement that state legislators are paid on the first and last day of the Legislative session. All other reimbursement for lawmakers is at the standard state rate. Opponents say the old law is a reminder of "humble roots."

Proponents of constitutional Amendment G argue that the reimbursement rate dates to 1891, is outdated and needs to match the state's current state rate per mile.

Also on the ballot this year is Amendment H, which proposes to change the requirement of using cumulative voting as the way corporate directors are chosen.

Cumulative voting is a method shareholders use to multiply the number of votes they are entitled to cast by the number of directors up for election. That number is then cast for a single candidate or the votes are distributed among candidates.

The amendment also eliminates several provisions, including one that bars a corporation from using a stock for limited forms of payment, and another requiring a method of increasing the amount of corporate debt. The amendment would also eliminate the term "corporation" from the state constitution.

For a complete 2008 ballot pamphlet, go to www.sdsos.gov.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com