Carlton v. Grimes
| Decision Date | 29 July 1946 |
| Docket Number | 46879. |
| Citation | 23 N.W.2d 883,237 Iowa 912 |
| Parties | CARLTON v. GRIMES, Treasurer. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Sept. 23, 1946. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
D C. Nolan and Edward L. O'Connor, both of Iowa City, for appellant.
John M. Rankin, Atty. Gen., R. G. Yoder, First Asst. Atty. Gen G. H. Clark, and Herbert J. Ries, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., and Jack C. White, County Atty. of Johnson County, of Iowa City, for appellees.
Chapter 136 of the 51st G.A. (General Assembly) of Iowa, known as S.F. (Senate File) 229 of that Assembly amended section 4644.11, Code 1939, section 309.11, Code 1946, by increasing the tax millage on taxable property leviable annually by county boards of supervisors for secondary road maintenance, and amended section 5093.03, Code 1939, section 324.2, Code 1946, to increase the license fee or tax on motor vehicle gasoline fuel from three cents per gallon to four cents per gallon, and amended section 5093.35, Code 1939, section 324.63, Code 1946, to provide that one cent of the four-cent gasoline tax should be apportioned so that three-fifths thereof would be credited to the secondary road construction fund of the various counties according to the area of each, and that two-fifths of said one cent tax would be credited to the street construction fund of the several incorporated cities and towns of the state in the ratio of their respective populations to the total population of all such cities and towns according to the last Federal census.
The suit was begun May 24, 1945. The statute became effective July 4, 1945. On July 3, 1945, Judge H. D. Evans, of the Eighth Judicial District of Iowa, entered an order in the District Court of Johnson County, Iowa, directing the Treasurer of the State to collect the additional one cent tax and to segregate it and deposit it in banks designated by said court to await its further order on the final determination of this suit. The amount collected approximates $6,000,000.
Briefly stated the chief contentions of the appellant and grounds relied upon for reversal are: first, that S.F. 229 was not passed as required by the Constitution of Iowa in that said Act was amended after being voted upon in both Houses of the Legislature, and was not voted upon or passed in the final form as signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, and approved and signed by the Governor and filed in the office of the Secretary of State; and, second, that S.F. 229 violated section 29 of Article III of the Constitution of Iowa in that it contained more than one subject.
The history and legislative course of S.F. 229 through the 51st G.A., 1945 of Iowa, as shown by the journals of each of its chambers, is, in substance, as follows: The journal of the Senate states that S.F. 229, entitled 'a bill for an act to amend section four thousand six hundred forty-four and eleven hundredths (4644.11), Code 1939, relating to secondary roads and optional maintenance levies,' was introduced in the Senate on February 8, 1945, read the first and second times and passed on file. In accord with the legislative practice and the rules of procedure of the General Assembly of Iowa, the bill was not recorded or set out in full in the journal. It appears in the record before us only by a photostatic copy, Exhibit 'G', of the original bill, filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The Secretary testified that 'all bills whether passed, or enacted on at the end of the session are filed and left in our office.' This is probably done under authority of section 52, Code 1939, section 3.6, Code 1946, which provides that 'the original acts of the general assembly shall be deposited with and kept by the secretary of state.' Entitled as above stated, the original bill was as follows: 'Be It Enacted By The General Assembly Of The State Of Iowa:
The last line was added to the original bill in the Senate on March 6, 1945, before it ever came to the House, by the adoption of an amendment offered by Senator Sharp.
The Senate journal also shows the following matters: The bill was assigned to the ways and means committee and by it reported for passage. Later the sifting committee recommended that it be placed on the calendar. On March 6, 1945 the bill on motion was read a third time, and on the question 'Shall the bill pass?' the yea and nay vote as entered on the journal, on a roll call naming each senator was The journal also states:
The following matters are shown on the House journal: S.F. 229 on March 7, 1945, was received in the House, and was there read the first time and referred to the Committee on roads and highways. On March 14, 1945, Fimmen, of Davis filed an amendment to the bill. The amendment was later withdrawn. On March 19, 1945, Colburn, of Shelby, filed and moved the adoption of the following amendment:
'Amend by adding new sections thereto as follows:
'Sec. 2. Section four (4), chapter one hundred sixty-five (165), Acts of the Fiftieth General Assembly, is hereby amended by striking from line one (1) of said section the words and figures 'three cents (3¢)' and substituting in lieu thereof the words and figures 'four cents (4¢)'.
'Sec. 3. Section thirty-five (35) of chapter one hundred sixty-five (165), Acts of the Fiftieth General Assembly, is hereby amended as follows:
'a. By striking the word 'all' from line two (2) of said section and substituting in lieu thereof the words 'three cents per gallon'.
'b. By adding to said section the following:
'Sec. 4. Amend the title by adding thereto the following:
"and to provide additional revenue for the construction and maintenance of secondary roads by amending certain sections of chapter 251.3, Code, 1939, chapter 165, Acts of the 50th General Assembly."
Avery, of Clay, raised the point of order that the amendment was not germane to the bill. The Speaker ruled the point not well taken, since the amendment referred to secondary roads and revenue for their maintenance and provided for an additional gasoline tax of one cent, the proceeds thereof to be apportioned between the counties for secondary road construction and maintenance and the excepted cities and towns referred to in section 4644.11, so that the subject matter of the bill remained the same, but enlarged the distribution of the additional revenue from the increase in the gasoline tax. A motion that the bill be made the first order of business on March 20, 1945, on a demanded roll call carried with 78 ayes, 23 nays, and 7 absent or not voting. On March 20, 1945, an attempt to re-refer the bill and all pending amendments to the sifting committee was lost on a roll call of 27 ayes and 71 nays, as were amendments of Schwengel of Scott and of Farmer of Linn, by roll call votes of 23 ayes, 74 nays, and 14 ayes and 86 nays.
On a demanded roll call the Colburn amendment was adopted by a vote of 75 ayes, 23 nays, and 7 absent or not voting. An amendment to the bill to transfer $1,500,000 from the primary road fund to a secondary road aid fund was lost. The House journal then shows the following proceedings: The customary motion to reconsider the vote was made and tabled.
The Senate journal shows the...
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