New laws affect business this month

By Robert E. O'Connell
Public Affairs & Communications Director

Several laws affecting business go into effect in July. Some laws were passed during the 2008 legislative session while others were passed in previous sessions and are just now being enacted. Following are some of the highlights:

License plate retention change: South Dakota's legislature approved the "license plate with owner system" in 2005 to have owners retain their license plates after selling a vehicle. Lawmakers also approved creating a new computer system called SDcars (South Dakota Customized Automated Registration System), which was in development in order to accommodate this change. Effective July 1, every vehicle owner will retain his or her license plates for use on a subsequent vehicle. For example: when a vehicle is sold, the seller keeps the plates keeps the plates to use on the next acquired vehicle, as long as it is the same type of vehicle. The new system is expected to help reduce complaints and problems involving out-of-state parking violations and tickets; ensure license plate owners receive credit for any remaining months on the license plate withen they sell a vehicle and attached their plate to the new vehicle; and make it possible for customers to eventually renew vehicle registrations and complete transactions online. For more information, go to www.sdcars.org.

Federal and state minimum wage change: The federal minimum wage and South Dakota's minimum wage will increase to $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008. This is the second in a series of increases to be implemented in a two-year period. Effective July 24, 2009, the minimum wage will rise to $7.25. Currently, the minimum wage is $5.85 per hour. South Dakota's Legislature and Gov. Mike Rounds enacted legislation in 2007 that established minimum increases to the state's minimum wage that concide with the federal increases. Employers are required to post the federal minimum wage notice; it can be downloaded at www.dol.gov/osbp/sbefa/poster.matrix.htm. South Dakota Career Centers have the required federal notices available at no cost in an all-in-one poster.

The 2008 Legislature also passed laws affecting off-sale and on-sale liquor licenses. As of July 1, an entity can own more than three off-sale liquor licenses provided the licenses beyond three have sales of food that make up more than 50 percent of their sales and that the entity has a separate location for the alcohol sales. Regarding on-sale licenses, the new legislation allows for a new type of on-sale liquor license. The license is restricted in a number of ways including market price valuation and amount of food sales required. While the law is in effect statewide, the City of Sioux Falls is still considering ordinances to comply with the new license requirements.

For more information about any of these law changes, contact Public Affairs & Communications Director Robert E. O'Connell at (605) 373-2004.