Nevadans for Nevada v. Beers
| Citation | 142 P.3d 339 |
| Decision Date | 08 September 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 47814.,47814. |
| Parties | NEVADANS FOR NEVADA, a Nevada Nonprofit Corporation; Nevada State Education Association, a Nevada Nonprofit Corporation; Nevadans for Quality Education, a Nevada Nonprofit Corporation; Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a Nevada Nonprofit Corporation; and Nevada Alliance of Retired Americans, a Nevada Nonprofit Organization, Appellants, v. Bob BEERS, an Individual; Ann O'Connell, an Individual; Kiley Chandler, an Individual; TASC for Nevada Committee, an Unincorporated Association; and Dean Heller, in his Capacity as Secretary of State of the State of Nevada, Respondents. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Nevada |
Dyer, Lawrence, Penrose, Flaherty & Donaldson and James W. Penrose, Carson City; McCracken Stemerman Bowen & Holsberry and Richard G. McCracken, Las Vegas; Davis Crowell & Bowe and Paul L. More, San Francisco, California, for Appellants.
George Chanos, Attorney General, and Joshua J. Hicks, Deputy Attorney General, Carson City, for Respondent Dean Heller, Secretary of State.
Hansen & Hansen, LLC, and Joel F. Hansen, Las Vegas, for Respondents Beers O'Connell, Chandler, and TASC for Nevada Committee.
Glade L. Hall, Reno, for Amici Curiae Nevada Eagle Forum, Nevadans for Sound Government, Nevada Committee for Full Statehood, Citizens for Responsible Government, Nevada Concerned Citizens, Belcro Media Group, Burke Consortium of Carson City, Citizens in Action, Americans for a Limited Government, Edwatch Nevada, Ascended Knowledge Ministries, Foundation to Protect and Defend the Nevada Constitution, Independent American Party, Nevada Families Education Foundation, Nevada Homeschool Network, Nevada Republican Liberty Caucus, Title of Liberty Foundation, People to Protect America, People Organized for the Next Generation, Nevadans for Tax Restraint, and Republican Advocates of Incline Village, Crystal Bay Nevada.
McDonald Carano Wilson LLP and Cody R. Noble and Jeffrey A. Silvestri, Las Vegas, for Amicus Curiae Taxpayer's Association.
Before the Court En Banc.
This case is about providing Nevadans a clear and certain pathway for effecting constitutional change. In this, we adopt an unequivocal objective test for judicial review of this and future ballot petitions. In this appeal, we decide whether the district court properly denied a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, which sought to prevent the Tax and Spending Control for Nevada Initiative from being placed on the November 2006 general election ballot. Because the initiative petition was not filed in compliance with mandatory requirements set forth in the Nevada Constitution, we conclude that the district court erred in denying declaratory and injunctive relief. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's order.
On December 22, 2005, respondents Bob Beers, Ann O'Connell, Kiley Chandler, and the Tax and Spending Control Committee (collectively "the committee") submitted to respondent Secretary of State two versions of an initiative petition both entitled Tax and Spending Control for Nevada (TASC). The TASC initiative generally proposes a constitutional amendment that would (1) impose spending limits for state and certain local governments; (2) require voter approval for new taxes; (3) change the existing Fund to Stabilize the Operation of State Government and the Disaster Relief Account therein, replacing them with a "Budget Stabilization Fund" and "Emergency Reserve Fund," restricting the definition of "emergency," barring the Governor and Legislature from appropriating funds in the event of a fiscal emergency; (4) prohibit the state from "directly or indirectly enact[ing] laws or authoriz[ing] the adoption of regulations[] requiring the counties and cities of the State to provide new services, expand existing services or conduct new or additional governmental function[s] without appropriating or designating state funding sources to fully support" the same; (5) freeze the "proportion of state revenue paid to all local units of government, taken as a group"; and (6) require that any proposed amendment to the Constitution mandating appropriations for specific projects or services that does not also establish a specific source of additional state revenue dedicated to fully funding those appropriations include a "notice" on the ballot stating that the amendment could be detrimental to other state services.
The difference between the two December versions of the initiative
The two December versions of the TASC initiative differed with respect to section 4(4), which provides the basis for calculating the state spending limit for the initial biennial budget. The first version of the initiative was submitted on standard-sized 8.5 × 11-inch paper, and section 4(4) of that version provided that, for the initial biennial 2009-2011 budget cycle, the base years for calculating the state spending limit "shall be the 2005-2007 biennium adjusted for cumulative changes in population and inflation occurring between January 1, 2007 and January 1, 2009." (Emphasis added.) The second version of the initiative was submitted on legal-sized 8.5 × 14-inch paper, and section 4(4) of that version provided that the base biennium for calculating the spending limit "shall be the 2005-2007 biennium adjusted for cumulative changes in population and inflation occurring between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2009." (Emphasis added.) Thus, the legal-sized version contained a four-year (2005-2009) population and inflation adjustment for calculating spending limits for the initial biennium, whereas the standard-sized version contained a two-year population and inflation adjustment (2007-2009).1 The Secretary of State's Office apparently did not realize that the committee had submitted two different versions of the petition, and it filed both on December 22, 2005.
Early challenge to the initiative's description of effect
On February 3, 2006, TASC opponents challenged in the district court the "description of effect" contained in the December 2005 petitions. This challenge was brought under NRS 295.061(2), which requires that each initiative contain a description—on each signature page of the petition—of the effect that it will have if approved by voters. Although both December versions included the same description of effect, the opponents alleged that that description did not adequately describe the impact that the TASC initiative would have if approved by voters. The district court agreed with the challengers, concluding that the description did not "fully and accurately describe" the TASC initiative's effects.
In accordance with the district court's order, the committee submitted a revised description of effect, which the district court adopted as adequate by order dated March 7, 2006. On March 8, 2006, the committee filed with the Secretary of State a new copy of its initiative petition with the revised description of effect. Like the December 2005 standard-sized petition, section 4(4) of the March 8, 2006 TASC petition provided that, for the initial biennial 2009-2011 budget cycle, the base biennium for calculating the state spending limit "shall be the 2005-2007 biennium adjusted for cumulative changes in population and inflation occurring between January 1, 2007 and January 1, 2009."
The voter-signed initiative petition differs from the filed petition
On June 20, 2006, the committee submitted to the county registrars' offices its registered-voter-signed initiative petition. Unlike the March 8 petition, however—with the base biennium adjusted for population changes and inflation during a two-year period, 2007 to 2009—the signed petition documents included the version of section 4(4) that provided that the base biennium would be adjusted for changes in population and inflation during a four-year period, 2005 to 2009. The relevant distinctions between the different versions of the petition with regard to the description of effect and section 4(4) are set forth in the following chart.
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December 2005 December 2005 March 8, 2006 June 2006
Date and version 8.5 × 11 8.5 × 14 revised & filed circulated
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Description of Inaccurate Inaccurate Court-approved Court-approved
effect language description description description description
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Initial 2009-11 Adjusted for Adjusted for Adjusted for Adjusted for
base biennium population & population & population & population &
spending limit inflation inflation inflation inflation
calculation changes changes changes changes
contained in occurring occurring occurring occurring
section 4(4) between 2007 between 2005 between 2007 between 2005
and 2009 and 2009 and 2009 and 2009
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Accordingly, although the circulated version contained the same version of section 4(4) as the December legal-sized version, the two petitions were not the same. To the contrary, the circulated version contained the court-approved description of effect (contained in the March 8, 2006, version), whereas the December legal-sized version contained the inaccurate description of effect rejected by the district court.
The opponents' complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief
Because of the difference between the March 8 version filed with the Secretary of State and...
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