Mo. Roundtable for Life, Inc. v. State

• Decision Date: 19 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. SC 92455.,SC 92455.
• Citation: 396 S.W.3d 348
• Parties: MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE, INC., Frederic N. Sauer, Missouri Right to Life, Pam Fichter, and Lawyers for Life, Inc., Respondents, v. STATE of Missouri, et al., Appellants.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

396 S.W.3d 348

MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE, INC., Frederic N. Sauer, Missouri Right to Life, Pam Fichter, and Lawyers for Life, Inc., Respondents,

v.STATE of Missouri, et al., Appellants.

No. SC 92455.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

March 19, 2013.

Held Unconstitutional

S.B. No. 7, § B

Held Unconstitutional as Not Severable

S.B. No. 7, § A

James Layton, Solicitor General, Attorney General's Office, Jefferson City, for the State.

Stephen Clark, The Clark Law Firm LLC, St. Louis, for Missouri Taxpayers.

Patrick C. Woolley, Michael A. Moorefield, Adam R. Troutwine and Susan B. Henderson–Moore, Polsinelli Shughart PC, for Missouri Biotechnology Association.

PER CURIAM.

Missouri Roundtable, et al., (“Roundtable”) filed suit in the circuit court of Cole County seeking to enjoin the implementation of Missouri Senate Bill No. 7 (“SB 7”) and reverse any actions already taken to execute its provisions. The circuit court granted Roundtable's motion for judgment on the pleadings, concluding that SB 7 violates the single subject rule of article III, section 23 of the Missouri Constitution, cannot be severed under the facts of this case, and, therefore, SB 7 is unconstitutional “in its entirety.” The circuit court entered judgment for Roundtable, and the State of Missouri appeals.

This Court agrees with the circuit court, and the record supports, in a very compelling manner, the circuit court's conclusion that SB 7 is unconstitutional in its entirety as a violation of the single subject provision of article III, section 23 as well as the factual finding and legal conclusion that section B cannot be severed from the remainder of SB 7 under the facts of this case. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural Background

This appeal involves SB 7, “An Act to repeal sections 196.1109, [etc.], RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof fourteen new sections relating to science and innovation, with a contingent effective date.” This bill was passed during the First Extraordinary Session of the 96th Missouri General Assembly (commonly referred to as the special session),¹ and the Governor signed it October 21, 2011. The bill had two sections: section A contains the substantive provisions, regarding science and innovation, and section B provides:

Section A of this act relating to science and innovation shall not become effective except upon the passage and approval by signature of the governor only of senate bill no. 8 relating to taxation and enacted during the first extraordinary session of first regular session of the ninety-sixth general assembly.

Section B hinged the effectiveness of SB 7 upon the passage of Senate Bill No. 8 (“SB 8”) and its approval by the Governor. The General Assembly did not pass SB 8, entitled “An Act to repeal sections 32.115, [etc.], RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eighty-two new sections relating to taxation, with penalty provisions and an emergency clause.”

Despite the failure of the General Assembly to pass SB 8 regarding taxation, various agencies began to implement section A of SB 7 regarding science and innovation. Roundtable filed this action to enjoin the implementation of SB 7 and reverse the steps already taken by the agencies toward its execution. The circuit court concluded that SB 7 was unconstitutional in its entirety as a violation of the single subject provision of article III, section 23.

Article V, section 3 of the Missouri Constitution gives this Court exclusive jurisdiction over this appeal because it involves the validity of a Missouri statute.

Standard of Review

“Constitutional challenges to a statute are reviewed de novo.” Rentschler v. Nixon, 311 S.W.3d 783, 786 (Mo. banc 2010). This Court presumes statutes to be valid and will not find a statute unconstitutional unless it clearly contravenes a constitutional provision. Legends Bank v. State, 361 S.W.3d 383, 386 (Mo. banc 2012). Challenges to legislation based on constitutionally imposed procedural limitations are not favored. Hammerschmidt v. Boone County, 877 S.W.2d 98, 102 (Mo. banc 1994). However, if the act “clearly and undoubtedly violates the constitutional limitation,” this Court will hold it unconstitutional. Id.

Analysis

The Governor could have vetoed SB 7 and expressly stated that it violated the single subject rule of article III, section 23.² But the Governor chose not to exercise his right to veto, and he did so expressing uncertainty as to whether the bill could become effective. In a news release regarding SB 7 that was made part of the record in this case, Governor Nixon's office stated, “Contingency clauses contained in legislation have been voided in the past, and ultimately a court may have to determine the effect, if any, of the contingency clause contained in Senate Bill 7.”

SB 7 Violates Article III, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution

Article III, section 23 provides, “No bill shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title ...” This section is mandatory and not merely directory. Hammerschmidt, 877 S.W.2d at 102. “Subject” for the purposes of section 23 includes “all matters that fall within or reasonably relate to the general core purpose of the proposed legislation.” Id. The test for whether a bill violates the single subject rule is “whether the bill's provisions fairly relate to, have a natural connection with, or are a means to accomplish the subject of the bill as expressed in the title.” Mo. Health Care Ass'n v. Att'y Gen. of the State of Mo., 953 S.W.2d 617, 622 (Mo. banc 1997). This test focuses on the title of the bill to determine its subject rather than the relationship between the individual provisions. C.C. Dillon Co. v. City of Eureka, 12 S.W.3d 322, 328 (Mo. banc 2000).

The legislature may constitutionally condition a law to take effect upon the happening of a future event, including a vote of the people. Akin v. Dir. of Revenue, 934 S.W.2d 295, 299 (Mo. banc 1996). However, this Court has not addressed the issue of whether such future event can be the passing of future legislation concerning a different subject matter.

The procedural limitations of article III, section 23 serve to “facilitate orderly procedure, avoid surprise, and prevent ‘logrolling,’ in which several matters that would not individually command a majority vote are rounded up into a single bill to ensure passage.” Stroh Brewery Co. v. State, 954 S.W.2d 323, 325 (Mo. banc 1997). Procedural safeguards also ensure that members of the legislature and the public are aware of the subject matter of pending laws. Id. at 325–26.Section 23, in particular, is an important tool in the preservation of separation of powers, as articulated in Hammerschmidt:

Because the governor may not employ a line item veto over legislation generally, the effect of the Constitution's single subject rule is to prevent the legislature from forcing the governor into a take-it-or-leave-it choice when a bill addresses one subject in an odious manner and another subject in a way the governor finds meritorious. Thus, by limiting the subjects a bill may address to one, the Constitution maintains appropriate checks by the governor over legislative action and effectively provides a line item analog for general legislation.

877 S.W.2d at 102.

According to its title, SB 7 is a bill “relating to science and innovation, with a contingent effective date.” The only purpose of section B is to condition the effectiveness of section A upon the passage and signing of SB 8, which by its title is a bill “relating to taxation, with penalty provisions and an emergency clause.” The 82 new sections proposed by SB 8 relate mainly to the provision of tax credits. Conditioning the effectiveness of the science and innovation provisions of SB 7 on the enactment of the taxation provisions in SB 8 clearly injects at least one additional subject into SB 7.

As finally passed, SB 7 was titled a bill to repeal a number of enumerated sections of the Revised Statutes of Missouri “and to enact in lieu thereof fourteen new sections relating to science and innovation, with a contingent effective date.” The single subject core of this bill was to amend laws relating to science and innovation. Section B incorporated by reference a bill with a different subject, to amend provisions relating to taxation. Without delving too deeply into drafts of SB 8, one provision relating to taxation provided a tax credit for “[a]ny person residing in this state who proceeds in good faith with the adoption of a special needs child on or after January 1, 2000 ...”

SB 7 clearly contained at least two subjects. Section B incorporated SB 8 into SB 7 in such a way that the two bills cannot reasonably be read separately. Prior to its passage, SB 7 was amended to incorporate by reference the taxation provisions of SB 8. These tax reform measures do not fairly relate to science and innovation, nor do they have any natural connection to that subject.

SB 7 is unlike the bill at issue in Akin, in which one provision of the bill provided for tax increases to fund the education programs contained elsewhere in the bill. 934 S.W.2d at 302. In Akin, those challenging the bill claimed the taxation provision was not part of the same subject as the rest of the bill. Id. However, because the taxation provision addressed the education provisions elsewhere in the bill and was not merely a general tax increase, the Court found that the taxation provision was a means to accomplish the purpose of the bill and, therefore, was part of the same subject. Id. The taxation provisions of SB 8, however, deal with comprehensive tax credit reforms. It cannot be said that, by the title and text of SB 7, legislators or the public could be aware of the extensive changes proposed by SB 8. Upon reading SB 7, members of both the public and legislature may not have been aware of the full extent of matters contained in SB 8. Senate Bill 8 would change 82 sections relating to...