“Yes, the road is narrow
Yes, the road is tough
But whoever remaineth in Him
Shall not die, but lift up”
“Basic Instructions” - Burlap to Cashmere

Burlap to Cashmere hit the Christian music scene in 1998 the same way Shohei Ohtani hits a hanging slider (it’s World Series time - had to get a baseball reference in!). The group brought a “world beat” acoustic sound to Christian music that combined incredibly fast-paced 12-string acoustic guitar with Caribbean drum beats on many of their songs, though the group would tell you that a lot of their influence is based on the Greek heritage of the two founding members of the group, John Philippidis and Steven Delopoulos.

The song breaks down multiple well-known Bible verses as a quick review of the Bible. The line of “Basic instructions before leaving Earth” is a common Christian community acronym for the Bible.

The group drew significant ire from mainstream Christian pulpits due to a throwaway word that the group uses to space within the song, as the song opens with the line “lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai,” which is really a nonsense word, but many pastors used that word as a reason to say that these guys with this fast-paced, hip-moving song about Bible verses were stating that the Bible was a lie. That was not their intent, similar to how the same nonsense word in “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel is often misinterpreted.

Misinterpretations - and outright lies - are, unfortunately, a good transition to the final ballot measure examination before voters head to the polls this year, Referred Law 21.

First, what exactly is Referred Law 21?

South Dakotans have a unique ability within the country (and the world) to call into question a law that is passed by their legislators in Pierre.

In the 2024 legislative session, three bills were passed, as a package, in response to concerns from farmers and ranchers facing a possible carbon pipeline crossing their property. House Bill 1185, House Bill 1186, and Senate Bill 201 were viewed together as the “Landowners’ Bill of Rights” bills from the session.

Using the citizen-initiated veto referendum format provided to South Dakota residents, voters secured enough signatures on a measure to reconsider SB 201, and that is what appears on your ballot this year as Referred Law 21 (RL21). To be clear, voting “yes” on the measure would uphold the law and leave SB 201 on the books. Voting “no” would overturn SB 201.

The first piece of misinformation about RL21 that should be examined is the advertising by opponents of RL21 that a “no” vote does NOT remove all bills associated with the Landowners’ Bill of Rights from state statute. RL 21 only challenges SB 201. HB 1185 and HB 1186 are already the law of the land and are not part of this referral.

Legislators who worked on the three bills label 15 points of protection that the three bills combine to give. Seven of those are in SB 201, but the remaining eight are in either HB 1185 or HB 1186, both of which are already enacted and must be considered by any company looking to put a pipeline through private land in the future.

The second piece of misinformation on RL21 is exactly what is in SB 201. While nearly half of the 15 points of protection for landowners identified by supporters of the three legislative bills are part of SB 201, in large part, those points are the most direct regarding financial compensation to the counties of the state and mandates regarding individual landowners.

SB 201 sets a minimum depth of 48 inches for future pipeline projects and provides landowners with lifetime drain tile damage repair and leak liability protection from the pipe as well as indemnity for landowners. Finally, SB 201 requires land agents working on behalf of a pipeline company to have a tie to the state and also requires certain paperwork to be filed to the state in order to receive a permit to build a pipeline.

To be clear on the issues potentially presented to the Public Utilities Commission and to Summit Carbon Solutions were RL21 to be voted in or voted down, I took the opportunity to talk with representatives from both.

The main thing both were clear about - the vote on RL21, despite what many opponents have presented, will NOT affect the future of carbon pipelines in the state. Voting no will not stop carbon pipelines from coming through the state. In fact, a representative for pipelines who wished to remain anonymous stated that if RL21 is voted down, “Summit will re-apply the next day.”

The view was that the measures in HB 1185 and HB 1186 are items that Summit has prepared for in their re-application to the PUC for a permit, but if RL21 passes, Summit will need some time to prepare the needed documentation to re-apply because of additional requirements that SB 201 required of companies seeking a permit coming through the state.

“Without those restrictions, Summit will quickly push through an application in order to avoid the requirements that would otherwise be on the books,” the representative emphasized.

PUC commissioner Chris Nelson was recently in Huron and was asked how the vote on RL21 will affect how the PUC processes a re-application from Summit.

Nelson was clear that the measures in SB 201 require an applicant to prove that they meet all of the restrictions currently, but if SB 201 is voted down with a “no” vote to RL21, “the onus for proving that a pipeline would provide harm would shift to the counties and the landowners.”

In other words, the counties and/or landowners who have put forth more restrictive setbacks or depth requirements for pipelines to come through their area than what federal law requires would be forced to assert why those additional restrictions would be needed, putting additional setbacks or depth requirements in jeopardy.

Regarding eminent domain usage, the measure doesn’t change how eminent domain is used in the state, no matter what way the vote is placed. In broad strokes, eminent domain is only utilized in a project when the landowner does not respond to multitude attempts to set up a discussion regarding the potential pipeline.

In South Dakota, there are currently 47,000 miles of pipeline already buried in the ground, much of it much more shallow than the four feet that SB 201 enforces and much of that pipeline has been laid with eminent domain along the way.

There is certainly room for work on the bills that were passed last session that could be brought forward in the upcoming legislative session. Those bills could be added to or taken away from by legislation passed in future sessions. However, completely removing SB 201 from the record could make it too late by the time legislation is passed in the 2025 session and is put into law in July - IF that could even get done with a very new legislature that will be present in Pierre, not the group that had been working on the three bills that were eventually passed for multiple years before SB 201 and HBs 1185 and 1186 were passed.

Voters certainly have the right to vote their views on RL21, but it is very important to understand the truth behind the referred law by spending some time researching the law on neutral places like ballotpedia.org to truly understand the law before allowing shrewd marketing on one side or the other to impact the future of South Dakota agriculture.

This is the final of seven columns reviewing the ballot measures on the 2024 ballot in South Dakota. For a look at previous explainer columns, check below:

Initiated Measure 28 (food tax)
Initiated Measure 29 (recreational marijuana)
Constitutional Amendment E (neutral words in constitution)
Constitutional Amendment F (Medicaid work requirement)
Constitutional Amendment G (abortion)
Constitutional Amendment H (open primaries)