# Josephine Garcia

Josephine Garcia is a Republican member of the South Dakota House for district 5.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Dakota House, district 5
- Serving since: 2025-01-14
- Current term: SD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/6ca3c0b7-e0d2-4d68-8b33-725c378ff130

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6ca3c0b7-e0d2-4d68-8b33-725c378ff130 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Garcia sits at −0.16 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 99% of State House Republicans.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.16 (standard error 0.01), from 26 donors and 298 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 1.3% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SD 2025–26 session)

638 roll calls. Attendance 99.0% (South Dakota House 96.6%). Party unity 94.2% (76%). 152 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-12 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/
- 2026-03-12 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1051 revise property tax levies for school districts and to revise the state aid to general and special education formulas. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1051/
- 2026-03-12 · voted nay · Do Pass · HB 1326 appropriate money for the ordinary expenses of the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the state, the current expenses of state… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1326/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 219 require that a state agency consult with the Aeronautics Commission prior to purchasing, transferring, or disposing of a state owned and operated… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB219/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 245 create the homeowner property tax reduction fund, and to transfer moneys to the homeowner property tax reduction fund. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB245/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 221 regulate the retail sale of nicotine products, and to provide a penalty therefor. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB221/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 222 make an appropriation for eligible water, wastewater, storm water, and riparian buffer initiative projects and to declare an emergency. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB222/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 119 create the capitol restoration fund and to transfer moneys thereto. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB119/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 106 modify the amount required to be set aside for extraordinary expenses incurred in providing special education programs. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB106/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 102 modify the distribution of gaming revenues. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB102/

## Legislation (SD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 92 bills: 91 reached committee, 33 passed one chamber, 22 passed both, 20 became law. Cosponsored 0. 91.3% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota House 81.4%; rank 12 of 69).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HCR 6011: encouraging the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council to form an interim Neurohealth Safety Committee to study and assess the regulatory… (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HCR6011/
- HB 1065: revise the medical purpose affirmative defense in cannabis prosecution. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-02) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1065/
- HB 1313: require education in prenatal human growth and development. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1313/
- HCR 6015: encouraging the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council to form an interim legislative committee to study the role and function of county boards… (in committee, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HCR6015/
- HB 1315: authorize the recall of certain elected officials or individuals appointed to fill vacancies in certain offices. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1315/
- SB 218: provide for the establishment of charter schools. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB218/
- HB 1266: make certain federal laws applicable to public employees. (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1266/
- HB 1317: eliminate a limit on the accumulation of the unused index factor for property taxation. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1317/
- HB 1265: authorize the salvage of certain bird eggs. (became law, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1265/
- SB 206: make an appropriation to contract for a study on the length of service award programs for volunteers. (in committee, 2026-02-26) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB206/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $19.0K (State House Republicans median $10.7K). 94% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4705/Detail
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrGarcia4District5House/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repjoseygarcia/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6ca3c0b7-e0d2-4d68-8b33-725c378ff130