Effort to create Center for American Exceptionalism at BHSU failed two-thirds vote in House

Morgan Matzen, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read
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A bill that would have created a Center for American Exceptionalism at Black Hills State University failed to obtain a two-thirds majority vote on Wednesday night in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

House Bill 1070 needed the vote, because it was both an appropriations bill and contained an emergency clause.

At about 3 p.m. Wednesday, the initial vote to attempt to pass the bill was 46 in favor, 23 opposed and one excused, which wasn’t enough of a majority. After a vote to reconsider the bill shortly before 5:30 p.m. passed, the vote to attempt to pass the bill again was met with the same vote count as before, 46-23-1. Rep. James Wangsness (R-Miller) was excused from the day’s votes.

What would the bill have done?

The bill would’ve established the center at BHSU for $150,000, and the center would make all six public universities partners in creating a new K-12 curriculum on “American history and exceptionalism” available to all public schools, according to the bill.

Rep. Scott Odenbach (R-Spearfish) speaks during the first day of legislative session on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Odenbach was the prime sponsor for HB 1070.
Rep. Scott Odenbach (R-Spearfish) speaks during the first day of legislative session on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Odenbach was the prime sponsor for HB 1070.

The curriculum the center created would’ve explained “why America rose to greatness and how to keep it that way,” taught students to “balance critical thinking with love of country,” and included South Dakota history with an American Indian tribes component “focusing on the proud history of the Indigenous peoples of South Dakota.”

This center would have also done the following, according to the bill:

  • Provide multimedia content on state social studies standards;

  • Work with K-12 teachers and provide professional development for them to educate on history and civics topics;

  • Oversee the “We the People” program, and its promotion and implementation throughout public schools; and,

  • Develop, implement and annually update a curriculum to be taught in two courses at the state’s public colleges and universities; one comparing communist and socialist countries to Western-style democratic countries, and one comparing command-style socialist economies to free-market capitalist economies.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Bill to start BHSU Center for American Exceptionalism fails