Senate HHS Buries HB 1160: MMOC Repeal Killed on a 4–3 “41st Day” Vote

Senate HHS Buries HB 1160: MMOC Repeal Killed on a 4–3 “41st Day” Vote

By Jason Karimi | Weed Press
March 5, 2026

South Dakota’s bill to repeal the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee (MMOC) is effectively dead.

On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Senate Health & Human Services voted to defer HB 1160 to the “41st legislative day” — the Legislature’s procedural euphemism for shelving a bill past the point where it can realistically come back.

The committee vote (4–3): who killed it, who tried to advance it

Per the South Dakota Legislature’s official vote record, the roll call broke down like this:

YEA (advance the “defer to 41st day” motion = kill):

• Sen. Tamara Grove — Yea
• Sen. Carl Perry — Yea
• Sen. Curt Voight — Yea
• Sen. Kevin Jensen — Yea

NAY (oppose the kill motion):

• Sen. Tim Reed — Nay
• Sen. Jamie Smith — Nay
• Sen. Sydney Davis — Nay

That 4–3 split is the whole story: the repeal effort reached the Senate, got a hearing, and then got buried in committee.

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How the press covered it (and what they emphasized)

A few outlets tracked the arc from House passage to Senate committee defeat:

• Brookings Radio: Reported the March 4 committee failure and framed it plainly as an attempt to dissolve MMOC that “fails.”
• South Dakota Searchlight: Covered the bill earlier, focusing on the House-approved push to repeal the committee and the political fight around MMOC.
• The Dakota Scout: Reported the House moving HB 1160 forward (including sponsor messaging) and the broader dispute surrounding MMOC.
• KCCR: Also covered the House sending the bill to the Senate after it was effectively “resurrected” from committee trouble on the House side.
• KELOLAND: Headlined the bottom line — MMOC remains — with social-post distribution (and a related video segment circulating).

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What this means right now

1. MMOC stays in place — at least through this session — because HB 1160 isn’t moving forward after the Senate HHS “41st day” deferment.
2. The Senate committee roster matters more than floor math. HB 1160 cleared the House, but Senate HHS was the choke point — and it stayed the choke point.
3. The coverage confirms the real dynamic: legislators keep using MMOC as a symbolic battleground for cannabis politics, while patients are left dealing with the practical consequences of instability and policy whiplash. (That’s the through-line you can see across how each outlet framed the story.)