On Thursday, we retweeted this exchange between the News Director of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and a former Argus Leader reporter:
And Gov. Noem was a fan of those vaccination requirements only 18 months ago. https://t.co/BGjf36BJmw
— Lisa Kaczke (@LisaKaczke) September 10, 2021
Here's Kaczke's February 21, 2020 in the Argus Leader, Gov. Kristi Noem opposes bill to drop vaccination requirements for students:
Gov. Kristi Noem says she opposes a bill eliminating the vaccination requirement for students.
"Vaccinations have literally saved millions of lives over the years. That is not something that I can support," she said during her weekly press conference.
The House Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on House Bill 1235 at 7:45 a.m. CT on Tuesday at the Capitol. Noem said her office will oppose the bill during the hearing.
House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, R-Platte, is the prime sponsor of the bill, and 13 legislators have signed on as co-sponsors.
The bill proposes that no student entering a public or nonpublic early education program, school or post-secondary school is required to have immunizations or medical procedures prior to entering school. It also states that no one can be discriminated against if they aren't immunized.
Any school, medical provider or person who forces someone to be immunized could be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, which comes with a maximum sentence of one year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.
On February 25, 2020, House Bill 1235 crashed in the Health and Human Services committee on a 2-10 vote, then was deferred on a 10-2 vote to the 41st legislative day, which is South Dakotan for "killing a bill." Opponents included representatives of the South Dakota Department of Health, the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce, the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, the South Dakota Medical Association, The South Dakota Nurses Association and other miscreants.
Sad to read that Tamara St John, one of my state representatives and the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal archivist, favored the failed measure. Nearly a year later, St. John tested positive for COVID-19, but fortunately experienced no severe symptoms.
The list of vaccines mandated for South Dakota school kids and Noem's new opposition to mandates is catching national attention.
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront commented on the inventory of those vaccines, but didn't note Noem's 2020 defense of vaccine mandates for school kids in this clip:
Governor slams Biden's vaccine mandate. Here are the vaccines required in her state https://t.co/8RgddJcA0i
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) September 12, 2021
It's worth your time clicking through to watch the CNN clip.
There's more of course. Noem tweeted on July 31:
Workers whose employers are mandating a vaccine for continued employment have the power to say no. Our robust economy and job market gives them the option to find a new employer that values personal choice and responsibility, and doesn’t force mandates on their employees.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 31, 2021
Reporting for BizPac Review, Vivek Saxena wrote in Kristi Noem sets off firestorm after saying workers can say no to vax mandates due to robust job market:
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, already on thin ice over her battles with state Republicans over a bill to ban biological males from women’s sports, is once again facing intense heat, this time for refusing to ban vaccine mandates.
On Saturday, she posted a tweet ostensibly designed to cheer up private business employees who’re being forced to choose between either complying with their employer’s vaccine mandate or looking for a new job.
“Workers whose employers are mandating a vaccine for continued employment have the power to say no. Our robust economy and job market gives them the option to find a new employer that values personal choice and responsibility, and doesn’t force mandates on their employees,” the governor wrote. . . .
The tweet provoked massive backlash from … conservatives.
It sounded to conservatives as if she was tacitly condoning those private businesses that have chosen to force a vaccine mandate on their employees.
Technically, her position is the correct one from a free market perspective. Businesses should be allowed to run their operations as they choose.
However, since the arrival of former President Donald Trump, the contemporary Republican Party has slowly been becoming more populist, and the populist position on this issue is that businesses DON’T have the right to force vaccines on employees.
And so for Noem to choose the free market position over the populist one — and for her to do so while in the middle of a pre-2024 election feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — was perhaps not the wisest move.
After all, DeSantis has taken the populist position and banned vaccine passports and mandates in Florida, making him extremely popular among the base.
Noem meanwhile is having her “Marie Antoinette” moment, according to Newsmax’s Jessie Jane Duff and others. . . .
That's our positive pants governor for sure.
Photo: Governor Kristi Noem riding her horse. To give her credit, she was vaccinated back in April, according to Associated Press coverage at the time.
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