Associated General Contractors of South Dakota, Inc. v. Schreiner

In my opinion, this is a clever raid upon the state treasury.* It is a series of bills, lobbied through the State Legislature, which attempts to overcome the constitutional provisions in our state. These unconstitutional bills favor a single private industry, the ethanol producers, by appropriating tax dollars to them. Ethanol producers are but one segment of South Dakota’s private enterprise system. To subsidize them directly by state law, runs afoul of Art. XI, § 2 of the State Constitution: “Taxes ... shall he levied and collected for public purposes only.” (Emphasis supplied mine). HB…