Meyer v. State

• Decision Date: 05 February 2019
• Docket Number: No. 1 CA-CV 18-0031,1 CA-CV 18-0031
• Citation: 436 P.3d 511,246 Ariz. 188
• Parties: Eric MEYER, Lela Alston, Richard C. Andrade, Reginald Bolding Jr., Mark A. Cardenas, Ken Clark, Diego Espinoza, Charlene R. Fernandez, Randall Fries, Rosanna Gabaldon, Sally Ann Gonzales, Albert Hale, Matthew A. Kopec, Johnathan R. Larkin, Stefanie Mach, Juan Jose Mendez, Lisa A. Otondo, Celeste Plumlee, Rebecca Rios, Macario Saldate, Ceci Velasqez, and Bruce Wheeler, Members of the Arizona State House of Representatives; Katie Hobbs, David Bradley, Olivia Cajero Bedford, Lupe Contreras, Andrea Dalessandro, Steve Farley, Barbara McGuire, Robert Meza, Catherine Miranda, and Martin Quezada, Members of the Arizona State Senate, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. STATE of Arizona, a Body Politic, Defendant/Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

246 Ariz. 188

436 P.3d 511

Eric MEYER, Lela Alston, Richard C. Andrade, Reginald Bolding Jr., Mark A. Cardenas, Ken Clark, Diego Espinoza, Charlene R. Fernandez, Randall Fries, Rosanna Gabaldon, Sally Ann Gonzales, Albert Hale, Matthew A. Kopec, Johnathan R. Larkin, Stefanie Mach, Juan Jose Mendez, Lisa A. Otondo, Celeste Plumlee, Rebecca Rios, Macario Saldate, Ceci Velasqez, and Bruce Wheeler, Members of the Arizona State House of Representatives; Katie Hobbs, David Bradley, Olivia Cajero Bedford, Lupe Contreras, Andrea Dalessandro, Steve Farley, Barbara McGuire, Robert Meza, Catherine Miranda, and Martin Quezada, Members of the Arizona State Senate, Plaintiffs/Appellees,

v.STATE of Arizona, a Body Politic, Defendant/Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CV 18-0031

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1.

FILED February 5, 2019

Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix, By Rusty D. Crandell, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant

Torres Law Group, Tempe, By Israel G. Torres; James E. Barton, II ; Sama John Golestan, Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellees

Presiding Judge Jennifer B. Campbell delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Judge Paul J. McMurdie and Judge Kent E. Cattani joined.

CAMPBELL, Judge:

¶1 The State appeals the superior court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Appellees, members of the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate who voted against passage of House Bill ("H.B.") 2579 (collectively, the "Legislators"), finding Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 23-204, as amended by H.B. 2579, unconstitutional because it violates the Voter Protection Act ("VPA"). For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 202, an initiative measure commonly referred to as the "Raise the Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act" ("Minimum Wage Act" or "Act"). The Minimum Wage Act is codified at A.R.S. §§ 23-362, -363, and -364. The central provision at issue in this appeal falls under the enforcement provision, A.R.S. § 23-364, which empowers a county, city, or town to "regulate minimum wages and benefits within its geographic boundaries" as long as it does "not provide for a minimum wage lower than that prescribed in this article." A.R.S. § 23-364(I) (emphasis added). It goes on to state, "[t]his article ... shall not limit the authority of the legislature or any other body to adopt any law or policy that requires payment of higher or supplemental wages or benefits , or that extends such protections to employers or employees not covered by this article." Id. (emphasis added).

¶3 In May 2016, the legislature adopted H.B. 2579, which amended A.R.S. § 23-204 and preempted the field of nonwage benefits, removing from cities and towns the power to regulate nonwage benefits. H.B. 2579 passed with majority votes in both the House and Senate, but neither chamber received a three-fourths’ majority vote. The relevant language of the bill provides:

The regulation of employee benefits, including nonwage compensation, paid and unpaid leave and other absences, meal breaks and rest periods, is of statewide concern. The regulation of nonwage employee benefits pursuant to this chapter and federal law is not subject to further regulation by a city, town or other political subdivision of this state.

A.R.S. § 23-204(A).

¶4 In June 2016, the plaintiffs sued the State in the superior court seeking declaratory relief, asking H.B. 2579 be found unconstitutional because it violated the VPA and the home-rule provision of the Arizona Constitution. The plaintiffs were comprised of three groups: (1) a labor union, United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 99 ("UFCW"); (2) five individual city councilmembers from three Arizona cities ("Councilmembers"); and (3) the Legislators who voted against H.B. 2579. The State moved to dismiss the home-rule claims by all three groups of plaintiffs and moved to dismiss the VPA claims by UFCW and the Councilmembers only. The superior court granted the State’s motion to dismiss in full, leaving only the Legislators’ VPA claim.

¶5 The State and Legislators filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the VPA claim. After briefing and oral argument, the court granted the Legislators’ motion for summary judgment, ruling that H.B. 2579 impliedly repealed a portion of the Minimum Wage Act and therefore violated the VPA. The court also awarded the Legislators all attorney fees requested, including fees for opposing the motion to dismiss. This timely appeal from the State followed.

DISCUSSION

¶6 We review grants of summary judgment and questions of statutory interpretation de novo. BMO Harris Bank, N.A. v. Wildwood Creek Ranch, LLC , 236 Ariz. 363, 365, ¶ 7, 340 P.3d 1071, 1073 (2015). "Our primary objective in construing statutes adopted by initiative is to give effect to the intent of the electorate." State v. Gomez , 212 Ariz. 55, 57, ¶ 11, 127 P.3d 873, 875 (2006). If the statute’s language is unambiguous and is subject to only one reasonable meaning, we apply that meaning without resorting to other statutory interpretation methods. Id. ; see also J.D. v. Hegyi , 236 Ariz. 39, 40-41, ¶ 6, 335 P.3d 1118, 1119–20 (2014). Only if the language is ambiguous do we discern the electorate’s intent by resorting to secondary interpretation methods, such as consideration of the statute’s subject matter, historical background, effects and consequences, and spirit and purpose. BSI Holdings, LLC v. Ariz. Dep’t of Transp. , 244 Ariz. 17, 19, ¶ 9, 417 P.3d 782, 784 (2018) (citation omitted).

I. Applicability of the VPA

¶7 The electorate shares lawmaking power with the legislature under Arizona’s system of government. See Cave Creek Unified Sch. Dist. v. Ducey , 233 Ariz. 1, 4, ¶ 8, 308 P.3d 1152, 1155 (2013) (citation omitted). "[T]he people reserve[d] the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the legislature" through the initiative and referendum processes. Ariz. Const. art. 4, pt. 1, § 1 (1).

¶8 In 1998, Arizona voters adopted the VPA as a constitutional amendment, limiting the legislature’s power to amend, repeal, or supersede voter-approved laws. See Ariz. Const. art. 4, pt. 1, § 1 (6)(B)-(C), (14). When the legislature addresses the subject of a voter-approved initiative, the constitutional limitations of the VPA apply and limit the legislature’s otherwise plenary authority. See id. The VPA prohibits legislative repeal of initiative measures approved by the voters and permits a legislative amendment to an initiative only when the amendment "furthers the purposes" of the initiative and is passed by "at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature." Id.

¶9 The VPA’s constitutional limitations apply to the Minimum Wage Act because it was passed by voter initiative. Consequently, the legislature cannot repeal or supersede the Minimum Wage Act, and any amendment would have to further its purpose and be passed by three-fourths’ vote in both chambers of the legislature. The parties do not dispute that H.B. 2579 was passed without the requisite three-fourths’ vote. The dispositive question, therefore, is whether the legislature impermissibly amended or superseded a portion of the Minimum Wage Act in violation of the VPA when enacting H.B. 2579.

II. Constitutionality of H.B. 2579

¶10 H.B. 2579 did not explicitly repeal or supersede the Minimum Wage Act, cf. State Land Dep’t v. Tucson Rock & Sand Co. , 107 Ariz. 74, 77, 481 P.2d 867, 870 (1971) (a statute expressly repeals another when it "nam[es] ... those [provisions] to be superseded"), but the parties disagree about whether H.B. 2579 impliedly amends or repeals provisions contained within the Act. To begin, we analyze the two statutes in light of the VPA. See Cave Creek Unified Sch. Dist. , 233 Ariz. at 7, ¶ 23, 308 P.3d 1152 ("Although [the house bill] did not expressly state that it repealed, amended, or otherwise changed [the initiative], we must consider its effect on the fundamental purposes underlying the VPA." (citation omitted) ). "The intent of the VPA, construed from its text and structure, was to limit changes to voter-approved laws." Id.

¶11 A statute can be impliedly amended or repealed through "repugnancy" or "inconsistency" with a more recent and apparently conflicting statute. UNUM Life Ins. Co. of Am. v. Craig , 200 Ariz. 327, 333, ¶ 29, 26 P.3d 510, 516 (2001) (implied repeal); Ariz. State Tax Comm’n v. Reiser , 109 Ariz. 473, 479, 512 P.2d 16, 22 (1973) (implied amendment). "An implied amendment is an act which purports to be independent, but which in substance alters, modifies, or adds to a prior act." Cave Creek Unified Sch. Dist. , 233 Ariz. at 7, ¶ 24, 308 P.3d at 1158 (quoting 1A Sutherland Statutory Construction § 22:13 (7th ed. 2012) ).

¶12 The Minimum Wage Act empowered counties, cities, and towns to "regulate minimum wages and benefits ," and authorized "the legislature or any other body to adopt any law or policy that requires payment of higher or supplemental wages or benefits, or that extends such protections to employers or employees not covered by this article." A.R.S. § 23-364(I) (emphasis added). H.B. 2579 explicitly removed from cities, towns, and other political subdivisions the authority to regulate "employee benefits, including nonwage compensation." A.R.S. § 23-204(A). H.B. 2579 defines nonwage compensation to include:

[F]ringe benefits, welfare benefits, child or adult care plans, sick pay, vacation pay, severance pay, commissions, bonuses, retirement plan or pension contributions, other employment benefits provided in 29 United States Code § 2611 and other amounts promised to the employee that are more than the minimum compensation due an employee by reason of employment.

A.R.S. § 23-204(C). Therefore, if A.R.S. § 23-204, as amended by H.B. 2579, amends or repeals the Minimum Wage Act, it will have done so in violation of the VPA.

¶13 The State argues the Minimum Wage Act does not apply to...