A member’s unexplained absence and an unsuccessful search for him contributed to the defeat of two bills intended to incentivize data centers Tuesday during a chaotic afternoon for South Dakota state senators.
The absent senator was John Carley, a Republican from Piedmont and an opponent of both bills. As the fate of the data center legislation hung in the balance due to a close margin of support and opposition, senators invoked rules pausing proceedings and launched an effort to find and return Carley to the chamber.
After a break of about 40 minutes, the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms returned with a report noting that Carley was not answering his phone — not even for the governor, who was enlisted to attempt a call — and could not be found. The search included reviewing footage from Capitol security cameras that showed Carley in the building earlier in the day, and looking for but not finding Carley’s vehicle in the parking lot.
Some senators interpreted Carley’s absence as a deliberate attempt to tank the bills. Based on prior close votes that were up for reconsideration, supporters of the bills had been hoping for at least a 17-17 tie vote that the lieutenant governor — presiding as president of the Senate — could break in favor of the legislation. Tie votes have been frequent this legislative session due to the health-related absence of Sen. Arch Beal, R-Sioux Falls, which has effectively reduced the number of senators from 35 to 34.
With Carley absent, there was no possibility of a 17-17 vote, and the chance that the bills would fail increased.
Both of the bills were from Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison. One would have altered a sales tax rebate program to accommodate data centers, and the other would have exempted backup generators — a common feature of large data centers — from permitting by the state Public Utilities Commission as long as the backup generators are not connected to the grid.
On Monday, Crabtree’s bill to provide sales tax rebates for data centers failed 17-16, one vote short of the 18 votes needed for passage, with Beal excused and an unexplained absence by Sen. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids.
Pischke returned to the Senate chamber after Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, invoked a rule requiring Pischke to be brought back. Crabtree’s bill regarding backup generators then failed on a 17-17 tie vote that Republican Gov. Tony Venhuizen opted not to break. Both data center bills are dead for now but could be resurrected as amendments to other bills between now and the end of the legislative session next month.
