Nick Fosness

Voted for Senate Bill 63, which created a state office of apprenticeship. The act sets up an office of apprenticeship inside the Department of Labor and Regulation, with a new chapter of law behind it. It defines an apprentice as a worker at least sixteen years old learning a trade under a registered program the department approves, and defines which occupations qualify, following the federal standards. Programs may be measured by time served, by skills shown, or by both. The bill was not amended. The South Dakota House vote was 42-23. The Governor signed it on February 25, 2026.

February 17, 2026Supports Reduce Wealth Gap

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1227, which doubled the yearly fee on electric cars. The owner of an electric car pays an extra fee each year at registration, on top of the ordinary license fee. The act raises that fee from $50 to $100. It applies to a noncommercial vehicle whose only power source is a battery that charges from an outside supply. Electric motorcycles are not covered. The South Dakota House vote was 49-16. The Governor signed it on February 26, 2026.

February 11, 2026Opposes Cost of Living Reduction

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 2, which paid for a new state prison in Minnehaha County. The act appropriates $650 million for buying the land and building a men's prison, and moves $78.8 million into the fund that pays for it. The Department of Corrections may buy the site and trade away two quarter sections the state owns in Lincoln County. Each construction package must be bid publicly on the state website. Money not spent by June 30, 2032 goes back. The South Dakota House vote was 51-18. This was the only bill passed at the September 2025 special session. The Governor signed it on September 23, 2025.

September 23, 2025Opposes Government Spending Reduction

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 44, which gave the attorney general power to subpoena account records in child exploitation and human trafficking cases. In a Division of Criminal Investigation case involving internet crimes against children or human trafficking, the attorney general, or a person the attorney general names, may issue a written demand for records, but only after a judge approves it. It reaches providers of electronic communication, internet access, remote computing and similar services, and is limited to subscriber and account details such as name, address, phone number, email, device identifiers and IP address. The provider may be barred from telling the customer. The South Dakota House vote was 52-15. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 4, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1062, which extended aggravated assault to threats with a realistic fake weapon. Aggravated assault already covered menacing someone with a deadly weapon so as to put them in fear of serious harm. The act adds a physical object that realistically simulates a deadly weapon, so a convincing replica counts. The South Dakota House vote was 44-22. The Governor signed it on March 09, 2026.

February 24, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1010, which would have barred holding a phone to make calls while driving. South Dakota bars using a mobile electronic device while driving but exempts dialing and taking calls. The bill would have removed that exemption, leaving only voice-operated or hands-free use, with a tap allowed to switch a feature on or off. A navigation app could have been used only if the driver was not typing into it. A violation would have stayed a Class 2 misdemeanor. The South Dakota House rejected it, 21-46. The bill did not become law.

February 18, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 76, which let the housing infrastructure fund lend money for airports. The South Dakota housing infrastructure fund exists to pay for public works that support housing projects. The act lets the housing authority lend from that fund for airport infrastructure as well, and requires it to write rules setting how such a loan is applied for, approved and paid out. The South Dakota House vote was 43-24. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 5, 2026Opposes Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1113, which would have created down payment loans for buying manufactured homes. The South Dakota Housing Development Authority would have run a revolving loan fund, lending up to five million dollars from the housing infrastructure fund on a rolling basis. An eligible buyer of a manufactured home could have borrowed up to ten thousand dollars toward the down payment, and repayments would have been lent out again. The South Dakota House voted 45-21 for it, but it failed because it needed a two-thirds majority, 47 votes. The bill did not become law.

February 24, 2026Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1082, which made school meals free for students who qualified for reduced-price meals. A school board may no longer charge a student who qualifies for reduced-price meals under the federal school lunch or breakfast program. The state reimburses districts for those meals. Each year the Department of Education works out what each district is owed, based on what the district reports, after subtracting the federal money it already receives. Boards may still charge other students, staff and visitors. The South Dakota House vote was 46-20. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

February 24, 2026Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 106, which raised the money held back for costly special education cases. Each year the Department of Education holds back part of the special education appropriation to cover extraordinary costs of teaching a child with disabilities. That set-aside had been $4 million a year since 2014. The act raises it to $5 million from July 1, 2026. Unspent money still carries over, and the total held in reserve may not exceed $5.5 million. An oversight board still reviews districts' requests and the secretary still approves them. The South Dakota House vote was 54-15. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 9, 2026Supports Public Education Quality

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1244, which paid for a program keeping at-risk students on track to graduate. The act appropriates $500,000 to the Department of Education for a grant to a nonprofit in the state that supports school districts and accredited nonpublic schools running Jobs for America's Graduates, a program for students at risk of not finishing school. The grant may only match private donations, match federal education or career readiness grants, or support wider joint efforts. The act also repeals the special donations fund. The South Dakota House vote was 51-14. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

February 25, 2026Supports Public Education Quality

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1130, which let a school district pay its property insurance premiums from its capital outlay fund. The capital outlay fund is raised by its own property tax levy and pays for land, buildings, grounds and equipment. It could already cover up to fifteen percent of a student transportation contract or mileage reimbursement, textbooks, instructional software and warranties on capital assets. The act rewrites that list as numbered items and adds one new use: premiums on a property insurance policy the district holds. The South Dakota House vote was 41-25. The Governor signed it on March 04, 2026.

January 29, 2026Supports Public Education Quality

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 44, which gave the attorney general power to subpoena account records in child exploitation and human trafficking cases. In a Division of Criminal Investigation case involving internet crimes against children or human trafficking, the attorney general, or a person the attorney general names, may issue a written demand for records, but only after a judge approves it. It reaches providers of electronic communication, internet access, remote computing and similar services, and is limited to subscriber and account details such as name, address, phone number, email, device identifiers and IP address. The provider may be barred from telling the customer. The South Dakota House vote was 52-15. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 4, 2026Opposes Data Privacy

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1275, which would have required app stores to verify users' ages and get a parent's consent for minors. An app store would have had to ask every South Dakota account holder's age and verify it by a commercially reasonable method. A minor's account would have been linked to a parent account, and the parent would have had to consent before the minor downloaded or bought an app, after seeing its age rating and what personal data it collects and shares. Age data could have been used only for this purpose, and a harmed family could have sued. The South Dakota House passed it, 50-17. A South Dakota Senate committee killed it, so the full Senate never voted on it and the bill did not become law.

February 20, 2026Supports Data Privacy

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1084, which hid the home details of judges and police from the public voter file. Only judges' home addresses used to be withheld from the voter registration file. The act withholds the home address, home or personal phone number and personal email of current and retired state and federal judges and of law enforcement officers, from both the current file and the state's five-year archive. The city and county where the person lives stays public. The courts and the Division of Criminal Investigation must send the Secretary of State the lists of who is covered. The South Dakota House vote was 53-14. The Governor signed it on March 09, 2026.

January 28, 2026Supports Data Privacy

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for Senate Bill 113, which made it a felony to stop someone practicing their religion by force. Using a threat or violence to intentionally stop another person from doing something their religion calls for was a Class 1 misdemeanor. The act makes it a Class 6 felony. The bill was not amended. The South Dakota House vote was 48-18. The Governor signed it on March 10, 2026.

February 26, 2026Supports Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1219, which required state agencies to provide an interpreter in a contested hearing. A contested case is a hearing where a state agency decides someone's rights, such as a license or a benefit. When a party or a witness needs a language interpreter or translator, the agency must find and appoint one and pay for it from its own budget, and the winning party may recover any other interpreter costs it had to pay. The bill was not amended. The South Dakota House vote was 48-18. The Governor signed it on March 09, 2026.

February 17, 2026Supports Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1138, which would have required agencies that send aides into people's homes to be licensed. A non-medical home care agency sends aides to help adults with bathing, dressing, eating and other daily tasks so they can stay at home. Each agency would have needed a Department of Health license, and running one without it would have been a misdemeanor. Aides would have needed eight hours of training including dementia care and a criminal background check, and agencies would have carried liability insurance of at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars and faced inspection. The South Dakota House voted 36-27 on overriding the Governor's veto, short of the 47 votes a two-thirds majority needs. The Governor vetoed the bill and the veto was not overridden, so it did not become law.

March 30, 2026Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1066, which broadened when a contractor who misuses a customer's money commits theft. The old law reached a contractor who knowingly used more than $500 of a payment for something other than the job, and only while bills for that job were unpaid. The act instead covers any contractor, subcontractor or supplier entrusted with another person's property who, intending to defraud, uses it for anything other than the labor, skill or materials it was given for. Penalties follow the general theft scale, so they rise with the amount. The South Dakota House vote was 46-19. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

February 9, 2026Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 245, which set up a state fund to cut property taxes on owner-occupied homes. The act creates the homeowner property tax reduction fund in the state treasury, run by the Department of Revenue. Its money may only be used to reduce the local share of general education property tax levies on owner-occupied single-family homes. Starting August 1, 2027 a set share of sales and use tax collections goes into the fund. Interest stays in the fund, spending runs through the yearly appropriation bill, and the money cannot be moved to the general fund. The South Dakota House vote was 42-27. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 9, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 198, which would have banned student cell phone use during the school day. The House amended the bill before voting. As amended, a student could not have used a cell phone during the school day, with four exceptions. Those were an administrator's approval to manage the student's health, a disability plan or individual education program, a teacher allowing it as part of a lesson, and an emergency. Each school board would have had to adopt a policy setting out discipline for breaking the rule. The South Dakota House rejected it, 28-39. The bill did not become law.

March 5, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 159, which raised the marriage age to eighteen with a narrow court-approved exception. Before the act a sixteen or seventeen year old could marry with a notarized statement of consent from one parent or guardian. The act sets eighteen as the rule. A sixteen or seventeen year old may still marry, but only after a circuit court finds the marriage is voluntary and in the minor's best interest, only with notarized consent from two parents or from the legal guardian, and only if the two applicants are no more than four years apart in age. The license may not be issued until thirty days after the court approves. The South Dakota House vote was 40-27. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 5, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 214, which put the statewide voter registration file online every week. The Secretary of State must post the complete statewide voter registration file to the state website by midnight each Monday, including the week's updates. County auditors must send changes to the master file and the absentee voter log to the Secretary every day, and send updated registration and voting history by July 15 after a primary and December 15 after a general election. The fields state law keeps private, such as Social Security and driver license numbers, are not part of what is posted. The South Dakota House vote was 36-30. The Governor signed it on March 30, 2026.

March 3, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1278, which would have stopped statewide officials and legislators taking campaign money from their own top staff. The rule would have covered the Governor, the other statewide elected officials and legislators. Neither the official's campaign committee nor a political action committee tied to the official could have accepted money from certain state employees the official hired or appointed. Those were anyone who ran a department or agency, was its highest paid employee after the head, or reported directly to the official. The South Dakota House rejected it, 20-47. The bill did not become law.

February 23, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1246, which would have banned secrecy agreements between governments and data center developers. A state agency, county or city could not have signed an agreement with a private company about building or locating a data center that required confidentiality or nondisclosure. Every such agreement would have been a public record open to inspection. The South Dakota House rejected it, 30-37. The bill did not become law.

February 20, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1210, which would have banned COVID-19 vaccine requirements. No employer, school or college, state agency, local government or anyone else could have required a person to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of a job, of enrollment, or of receiving a benefit or service. A violation would have been a Class 2 misdemeanor. The South Dakota House rejected it, 32-35. The bill did not become law.

February 20, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1163, which would have banned requiring vaccines made with genetic material. A genetic-based vaccine was defined as one that works by using, modifying or transferring genetic material to produce an immune response, including messenger RNA and DNA vaccines. No employer, school or college could have required one or punished someone for not having one, and no public accommodation could have refused service over it. The attorney general could have imposed a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars. The ban would not have applied to health facilities bound by federal Medicare or CDC rules, existing school and preschool entry shots, clinical placements in state health-science programs, court orders or the National Guard. The South Dakota House rejected it, 32-35. The bill did not become law.

February 20, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1222, which would have barred economic development board members from owning companies the board funds. The Board of Economic Development awards state grants and loans to businesses. As the House amended the bill before voting, a board member could not have held a direct ownership stake in, or a seat on the board of, any company receiving money from or approved by the board. Stock bought on the open market and held as a passive investment would not have counted. The South Dakota House rejected it, 29-36. The bill did not become law.

February 19, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1217, which would have barred South Dakota schools, colleges and universities from using public money to support unions. They could no longer deduct union dues from pay, give a union more worker information than public records law requires unless the worker agreed in writing, or send out union messages. Workers could still use their own earned leave for union work, but on-duty union representation would be paid only if the union repaid the cost. Breaking the rule would have brought civil penalties and lawsuits. The South Dakota House rejected it, 27-40. The bill did not become law.

February 18, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 11, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1182, which would have required fertility clinics to report yearly counts of embryos created and destroyed. The Department of Health would have collected, every year, how many embryos were created through in vitro fertilization and similar treatment, how many were genetically tested, implanted, frozen, donated or sent out of state, and how many were destroyed accidentally or deliberately. Each clinic would have had to report, facing a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars, and the totals would have been published online. The South Dakota House rejected it, 25-42. The bill did not become law.

February 18, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1173, which would have made carbon dioxide pipeline companies prepare and pay for an environmental impact statement. The Public Utilities Commission may order an environmental impact statement before issuing a permit but does not have to. The bill would have required every applicant for a carbon dioxide pipeline permit to prepare one, at its own expense, before a permit could issue. The South Dakota House passed it, 44-22. A South Dakota Senate committee killed it, so the full Senate never voted on it and the bill did not become law.

February 17, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1151, which would have banned kratom. Kratom is a plant sold as a supplement whose active compounds act on the same brain receptors as opioids. Selling, distributing, buying, using or possessing kratom, a kratom product, or a product containing synthetic mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine would have been a Class 2 misdemeanor. The bill would have replaced the current rules, which bar sales to and use by people under twenty-one, cap potency, ban synthetic or adulterated products and require warning labels. The South Dakota House rejected it, 27-39. The bill did not become law.

February 17, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1171, which would have required blood banks to ask donors about COVID-19 and mRNA vaccination and label the blood. Anyone collecting blood for transfusion would have had to ask each donor whether they had ever received a COVID-19 or mRNA vaccine, and mark the blood bag conspicuously if so, without printing the donor's identity. A patient needing a transfusion that was not an emergency could have made a request about the donor's vaccination status. The South Dakota House rejected it, 23-42. The bill did not become law.

February 17, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1209, which would have required every employer to check new hires through E-Verify. E-Verify is the federal Department of Homeland Security's online check of whether a worker may legally be employed in the United States. In the version the House passed, every employer would have had to run each new hire through it and keep the record for as long as the person worked there. The attorney general could have collected a civil penalty of two thousand dollars per violation, and giving an employer false documents to evade the check would have been a Class 1 misdemeanor. The South Dakota House passed it, 49-13. The two chambers never agreed on a final text, so the bill did not become law.

February 12, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1105, which would have stopped property covenants from blocking health care services in underserved areas. A property owner can record a covenant, a binding restriction on how land may be used. The bill would have barred any covenant on commercial or residential property that prohibits using it for a health care service, where the property sits in an area, community or county the federal government designates as medically underserved. Any such covenant would have been unenforceable. The South Dakota House passed it, 45-20. A South Dakota Senate committee killed it, so the full Senate never voted on it and the bill did not become law.

February 11, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1153, which would have let health care workers and institutions refuse services that violate their conscience. A health care provider, from a doctor or nurse to a pharmacy employee, a hospital or an insurer, could not have been required to take part in or pay for a particular medical service that violated its ethical, moral or religious beliefs. It could not have been disciplined, sanctioned by a licensing board or held liable for refusing, and could have sued over a violation. The federal emergency treatment law would still have applied. The South Dakota House rejected it, 25-41. The bill did not become law.

February 10, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1068, which would have let pharmacists hand out ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine without an individual prescription. A pharmacist could have dispensed either drug to anyone eighteen or older under a standing written protocol from a licensed provider, rather than a prescription written for that patient. The protocol had to include a risk screening tool and information on when the drug should and should not be used, how to take it and how to handle side effects. A pharmacist acting in good faith would have been shielded from liability and discipline except for gross negligence. The South Dakota House rejected it, 28-40. The bill did not become law.

February 5, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 85, which would have required a public vote on every school property tax increase above the usual limit. A school board may raise property taxes above the usual limit, called an opt out, by a two-thirds vote of the board, and voters can force an election only by petition. The bill would have required every opt out to go to a public vote, held by October 1. The ballot would have had to state how many years the tax would run and the total dollars it would raise. The South Dakota House rejected it, 29-39. The bill did not become law.

February 4, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1103, which would have ended an exception letting water systems draw deep groundwater faster than it refills. South Dakota may not approve a groundwater permit if withdrawals would probably exceed the source's average yearly recharge. An exception lets water distribution systems draw more than that from the deepest formations, those below the Greenhorn formation. The bill as amended on the House floor would have repealed that exception from July 1, 2027, applying the recharge limit to every source. The South Dakota House rejected it, 16-49. The bill did not become law.

February 2, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Joint Resolution 5002, which would have asked voters to remove Medicaid expansion from the state constitution. The state constitution has required South Dakota, since July 1, 2023, to provide Medicaid to adults over eighteen and under sixty-five with income at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level plus a five percent allowance. The resolution proposed an amendment for the next general election ballot repealing that section, which would have removed the constitutional requirement to provide the coverage. The South Dakota House rejected it, 27-39. The bill did not become law.

January 29, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026

Voted against House Bill 1064, which allowed direct sales of uninspected meat once federal law permits them. A custom exempt plant slaughters animals for their owner and is not subject to the full inspection that meat sold at retail requires. The act lets a producer sell meat from cattle, sheep, swine or goats slaughtered at such a plant straight to the person eating it. The animal must have been raised by that producer for at least ninety days and slaughtered and processed in South Dakota; the seller must hand it over in person at their home, a farmers market, a roadside stand or a similar temporary venue; and the package must be labeled as uninspected and not for resale. None of this takes effect until the Attorney General certifies that federal law, by statute or a final court ruling, allows such sales. The South Dakota House vote was 48-18. The Governor signed it on February 17, 2026.

January 29, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 10, 2026