(Pierre, SD) — A growing trend of state Senators skipping votes is causing alarm in Pierre. The latest instance was on Tuesday when Senator John Carley missed a vote on incentivising data centers. The strategic move has been implemented multiple times this session to prevent tie breaking votes on certain bills. Bills in the Senate need 18 votes to pass, unless there is a 17-to-17 vote tie where the lieutenant governor can cast a tie-breaking vote. The data center bill died on Tuesday when Senators voted 17-to-16 in favor of it, but it came up short of the required 18 votes.
