# Steve Kolbeck

Steve Kolbeck is a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate for district 2.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Dakota Senate, district 2
- Serving since: 2023-01-10
- Current term: SD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/d8b7a70b-2c34-4319-aaaf-54112c5ca471

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/d8b7a70b-2c34-4319-aaaf-54112c5ca471 (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

96% of the 27 bills Kolbeck sponsored got out of committee, in the top 5% of the South Dakota Senate.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.28 (standard error 0.02), from 44 donors and 440 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 38% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SD 2025–26 session)

567 roll calls. Attendance 98.4% (South Dakota Senate 96.6%). Party unity 58% (76%). 71 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-12 · voted yea · 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/
- 2026-03-12 · 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 yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1006 create a taskforce to study the creation of Indian medicaid managed care entities in the state. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1006/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · HB 1241 modify the requirements for public notice of a hearing prior to a vote to impose an excess tax levy, and to modify requirements to refer an excess tax… · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1241/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass · HB 1140 permit a court to impose as a condition of probation, or parole in certain circumstances, treatment at a nonprofit entity awarded an alternative care… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1140/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass · HB 1160 repeal the medical marijuana oversight committee. · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1160/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1184 define man and woman throughout the state. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1184/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · HB 1241 modify the requirements for public notice of a hearing prior to a vote to impose an excess tax levy, and to modify requirements to refer an excess tax… · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1241/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1082 establish parameters for the reimbursement of school districts that provide free or reduced-price meals to students. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1082/

## Legislation (SD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 27 bills: 27 reached committee, 18 passed one chamber, 14 passed both, 12 became law. Cosponsored 0. 96.3% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota Senate 78.2%; rank 2 of 34).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SJR 508: proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election, amendments to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, removing the lieutenant… (passed one chamber, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SJR508/
- HB 1268: repeal capital punishment. (in committee, 2026-02-18) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1268/
- HB 1263: eliminate an exclusion from the definition of an agricultural equipment dealer. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1263/
- SB 227: establish a minimum damage threshold for a motor vehicle total loss declaration. (passed one chamber, 2026-02-24) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB227/
- SB 210: provide that a portion of revenues from wind farms remain with school districts. (in committee, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB210/
- HB 1227: increase the annual fee required of an owner of an electric motor vehicle. (became law, 2026-02-26) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1227/
- HB 1238: protect financial institutions taking action to prevent the financial exploitation of consenting, senior, or vulnerable adults. (became law, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1238/
- HB 1180: ensure the validity of non-compete agreements in the context of jointly owned business entities. (became law, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1180/
- SB 150: exempt one motor vehicle of a debtor from being taken by legal process. (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB150/
- SB 136: make an appropriation for grants to support the purchase of personal protective equipment by volunteer fire departments and to declare an emergency. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB136/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $13.6K (State Senate Republicans median $28.3K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4517/Detail
- Campaign site: https://kolbeckforsouthdakota.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Steve-Kolbeck-For-District-2-Senate-104741565498639/?tsid=0.3916115407662718&source=result
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steve.kolbeck/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/d8b7a70b-2c34-4319-aaaf-54112c5ca471