Kristi Noem vetoes bill that would have paved the way for central digital bank currency in South Dakota

On Friday, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem vetoed House Bill 1193, a bill which redefined the word money to exclude digital assets and laid the groundwork for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as an official state-regulated currency, reports MSN.

According to Dakota News Now the South Dakota Freedom Caucus said in a statement they "profusely thanks Gov. Noem for vetoing HB 1193, a bill that would have created a path towards a China-style Central Bank Digital Currency."

"At our urging, thousands of South Dakotans have called and written to the governor warning her of the dangers of this legislation and she has truly listened to the voice of the people," the statement continued.

In February, the South Dakota Freedom Caucus launched a petition online to halt House Bill 1193 from advancing in the state legislature, as they claimed it would create a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a tool that could be used as a tool to "allow the government to decide what you can or cannot own."

The Freedom Caucus announced the petition via a press release and cited comments last September made by Bo Li, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who said, "programming CBDC, that money can be precisely targeted for what kind of people can own and for what kind of use this money can be utilized, for example for food."

During the bill's debate in the House Judiciary Representative Scott Odenbach of District 31 pointed out language in the bill that would establish an electronic record that is "a medium of exchange" transferable in a system "authorized or adopted by the government."

Odenbach's concern was that the bill's establishment of CBDC would put control over individual's monetary purchases with the state.

Vice Chair House Representative Tony Randolph echoed Odenbach's concern and said "The ability of a free people to determine the means of exchange and which transactions they engage in is what makes them free and without it, you don’t have a free people."

Freedom Caucus Treasurer Representative Tina Mulally said "We just can’t afford to let something of this magnitude pass unchecked."

The bill passed the committee by a vote of 7 to 4, then advanced to the House floor where it passed 49-17 before it was vetoed.

"We stand ready to reconsider this legislation without the language that assaults our liberties at a later date," the South Dakota Freedom Caucus said after the veto.