---
type: "Bill"
title: "authorize the use of Spanish in obtaining certain driver licenses and permits."
description: "authorize the use of Spanish in obtaining certain driver licenses and permits."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 70"
citation: "South Dakota SB 70 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Delayed Effective Date", "Driver License", "Motor Vehicles", "State Affairs and Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Anderson", "Bordeaux", "Curd", "Cwach", "Duba", "Duvall", "Foster", "Healy", "Kennedy", "Nesiba", "Olson", "Reed", "Ring", "Saba", "Smith (Jamie)", "Smith (VJ)", "Soholt", "Steinhauer", "Sullivan", "Willadsen", "Wismer"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2020-01-24"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/581cd1ca-b76b-4be9-acf0-4bd395c61050"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=70&Session=2020"
source_hash: "e29bcb44394561377941de9bf015f143dae9142a2491344c2344916f2464b460"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sd"]
---

# South Dakota SB 70 (2020) — authorize the use of Spanish in obtaining certain driver licenses and permits.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB70P.html&Session=2020&Version=Introduced&Bill=70)
2. **House** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB70H.html&Session=2020&Version=House&Bill=70)
3. **House Transportation** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB70HTR.html&Session=2020&Version=House Transportation&Bill=70)
4. **Senate Transportation** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB70STR.html&Session=2020&Version=Senate Transportation&Bill=70)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB70ENR.html&Session=2020&Version=Enrolled&Bill=70)

## Votes

- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **8–3** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **42–24** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass - 2020 — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Concurred in amendments - 2020 — **24–11** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended - 2020 — **24–11** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Anderson — primary (person)
- Bordeaux — primary (person)
- Curd — primary (person)
- Cwach — primary (person)
- Duba — primary (person)
- Duvall — primary (person)
- Foster — primary (person)
- Healy — primary (person)
- Kennedy — primary (person)
- Nesiba — primary (person)
- Olson — primary (person)
- Reed — primary (person)
- Ring — primary (person)
- Saba — primary (person)
- Smith (Jamie) — primary (person)
- Smith (VJ) — primary (person)
- Soholt — primary (person)
- Steinhauer — primary (person)
- Sullivan — primary (person)
- Willadsen — primary (person)
- Wismer — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-24** First read in Senate and referred to Senate Transportation S.J. 75 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-05** Transportation Motion to amend, Passed Amendment 70A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-07** Transportation Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 5, NAYS 2. `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-10** Senate Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 24, NAYS 11. S.J. 177 `passage`
- **2020-02-11** First Reading House H.J. 257
- **2020-02-27** Referred to House Transportation H.J. 433 `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-05** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-03-05** Transportation Motion to amend, Passed Amendment 70B `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2020-03-05** Transportation Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 8, NAYS 3. `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-09** House of Representatives Motion to amend, Passed H.J. 515 Amendment 70E
- **2020-03-09** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended, Passed, YEAS 42, NAYS 24. H.J. 516 `passage`
- **2020-03-10** Senate Concurred in amendments, Passed, YEAS 24, NAYS 11. S.J. 480
- **2020-03-11** Signed by the President S.J. 487
- **2020-03-11** Signed by the President
- **2020-03-11** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 583
- **2020-03-12** Delivered to the Governor on March 12, 2020 S.J. 534 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-30** Signed by the Governor on March 20, 2020 S.J. 557 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/581cd1ca-b76b-4be9-acf0-4bd395c61050`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).