South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) discussed Indian health and Medicaid expansion plans during his State of the State address on January 12, 2016. Photo from South Dakota State News

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) on Tuesday vetoed a controversial bill that would have barred transgendered public school students from using the bathroom or locker room of their choice.

Daugaard said House Bill 1008 prevented local communities from addressing the issue on their own. He also said it could have led to litigation and conflict, something that's not in the best interests of students.

"It removes the ability of local school districts to determine the most appropriate accommodations for their individual students and replaces that flexibility with a state mandate," Daugaard said in a veto message.

Local accommodation was an issue raised by one of the Indian lawmakers who voted against the bill. Sen. Troy Heinert (D), a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe used to teach elementary school on the reservation and said a transgender student did not pose problems in the community.

“Parents said, ‘He dresses as a girl, he lives as a girl, he plays with girls,’” Heinert told The New York Times. “We made some accommodations at our school. Nobody cared. Everybody knew. We didn’t make a mountain out of a molehill.”

The South Dakota Democratic Party welcomed the death of the bill but said Republicans wasted too much time on the issue rather than approving an expansion of Medicaid. The move would benefit tribal members across the state, a critical issue in light of the problems facing the Indian Health Service. The emergency room on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation has been shut down and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Service is threatening to cut certification for two IHS facilities.

“There’s never been a single instance which proves a need exists for HB 1008, yet we have people literally dying in ambulances on the way to Nebraska because there’s no emergency room in Rosebud," Michael Ewald, the Democratic party's communications director, said in a press release.

Get the Story:
Daugaard vetoes transgender bathroom bill (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 3/2)
South Dakota Governor Vetoes Restriction on Transgender Bathroom Access (The New York Times 3/2)

Related Stories:
Indian lawmakers voted against transgender discrimination bill (2/25)
Brandon Ecoffey: Treaties guaranteed health care for our people (02/11)
Lakota Country Times: Indian health at center of Medicaid debate (02/09)
Duane Brayboy: Outsiders tried to wipe out Native gender identity (01/25)
Doug George-Kanentiio: All genders respected in tribal societies (01/12)