PIERRE, S.D. -- South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday that she's proposing legislation before construction begins on the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would create a way to go after out-of-state money that funds pipeline protests.
Noem's bills come after opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline staged large protests that resulted in 761 arrests in southern North Dakota over a six-month span beginning in late 2016. The state spent tens of millions of dollars policing the protests. Officials have already changed state law in anticipation of Keystone XL protests. In 2017, they made it a Class 1 misdemeanor for someone to stand in the highway to stop traffic or to trespass in a posted emergency area. That was a scaled-back version of a bill championed by then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard amid concerns about large demonstrations similar to the Dakota Access protests.
TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said in an email that the company appreciates Noem's efforts to help advance the construction of Keystone XL and other pipelines in a way that ensures the safety of workers and state residents.
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