SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — A bill requiring masks in most indoor public spaces is up for a vote by the South Dakota Senate.
The bill, SB 125, passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee “without recommendation” on Wednesday, meaning the committee did not endorse the bill but will allow the full Senate to vote on it. It is unlikely to pass the Republican-dominated chamber.
Bill sponsor Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat from Sioux Falls, said voluntary mask recommendations like the one in his home city only go so far.
“We’ve seen some of that even in this building, about how that is not as effective as it could be,” Nesiba said of voluntary measures.
The South Dakota State Medical Association supports the bill, with chief lobbyist Dean Krogman testifying in favor before the committee. But Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner said she wasn’t sure a mandate would help in the state’s virus response.
“I think there’s a misconception that with a mask mandate all of these people would still be alive,” Tobin said. “This is a pandemic.”
The bill requires “a face covering in an indoor retail business or a government-owned facility where six-foot social distancing cannot be achieved or maintained.” It contains exceptions for people dining in restaurants, children under 5 years old, and people with certain medical conditions.
The committee voted 4-3 against passing the bill but elected 5-2 to move it ahead to the full Senate with no endorsement attached. Read it in full here.
(Jerry Oster, WNAX, contributed to this report.)
