35-9-4.1. Legislative intent and purpose for raising minimum drinking age.
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The South Dakota Legislature enacts chapter 261 of the 1987 Session Laws to raise the state's minimum drinking age to twenty - one years of age solely under the duress of a funding sanction imposed by the United States Department of Transportation under 23 U.S.C § 158. The Legislature strongly objects to being forced to choose between loss of highway construction funds, which are badly needed to construct priority road projects to promote the public health and safety of the state's inhabitants and visitors, and loss of its right to set its own drinking age.
The action taken by this Legislature shall not be construed as a concession or waiver of its constitutional right to establish at what age an individual may lawfully purchase, possess, and consume alcoholic beverages. Rather, it is taken to ensure that South Dakota is not penalized while it challenges in the United States Supreme Court the federal government's attempt to usurp the state's right to regulate the drinking age of its citizens. This legislation is enacted with the expressed intent of providing the South Dakota attorney general the maximum flexibility to pursue South Dakota's challenge to the federal government's intrusion into a right reserved to the state while ensuring the full availability of federal highway funds for the 1988 construction season.
It is the intent of this Legislature that if at any time before or after the effective date of this legislation the provisions of 23 U.S.C § 158 are repealed, expired or declared invalid by the United States Supreme Court, the provisions of this legislation shall become null and void and any provision repealed by SL 1987, ch 261 shall be revived pursuant to § 2-14-19 .