Pa. AFL-CIO ex rel. George v. Com.

• Decision Date: 30 August 2000
• Citation: 757 A.2d 917,563 Pa. 108
• Parties: PENNSYLVANIA AFL-CIO, by William GEORGE and Richard Bloomingdale, Trustees Ad Litem; and Pennsylvania Federation of Injured Workers, Inc.; and Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health, Appellants at No. 39/97, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania and Thomas Ridge, in his Official Capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Johnny J. Butler, in his Official Capacity as Secretary of Labor and Industry of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellees. Senators F. Joseph Loeper, Gibson E. Armstrong, Noah W. Wenger, Albertbelan, Gerald J. Lavalle, Richard A. Kasunic and Christine M. Tartaglione, Senate Labor and Industry Committee Democratic Members, Intervenors. Appeal of Albert V. Belan, Gerald J. Lavalle, Richard A. Kasunic and Christine M. Tartaglione, Senate Labor and Industry Committee Democratic Members, Intervenors at No. 40/97. Appeal of Senator F. Joseph Loeper, Gibson E. Armstrong and Noah W. Wenger, Intervenors At 46/97.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

757 A.2d 917

563 Pa. 108

PENNSYLVANIA AFL-CIO, by William GEORGE and Richard Bloomingdale, Trustees Ad Litem; and Pennsylvania Federation of Injured Workers, Inc.; and Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health, Appellants at No. 39/97, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania and Thomas Ridge, in his Official Capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Johnny J. Butler, in his Official Capacity as Secretary of Labor and Industry of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellees.

Senators F. Joseph Loeper, Gibson E. Armstrong, Noah W. Wenger, Albertbelan, Gerald J. Lavalle, Richard A. Kasunic and Christine M. Tartaglione, Senate Labor and Industry Committee Democratic Members, Intervenors.

Appeal of Albert V. Belan, Gerald J. Lavalle, Richard A. Kasunic and Christine M. Tartaglione, Senate Labor and Industry Committee Democratic Members, Intervenors at No. 40/97.

Appeal of Senator F. Joseph Loeper, Gibson E. Armstrong and Noah W. Wenger, Intervenors At 46/97.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued November 16, 1998.

Decided August 30, 2000.

Irwin W. Aronson, James A. Diamond, Camp Hill, for AFL-CIO George and Bloomingdale.

Eric B. Schnurer, West Chester, for PA Federation of Injured Workers, et al.

Paul A. Tufano, Gen. Counsel, Gregory E. Dunlap, Deputy Gen. Counsel, Stephanie A. Middleton, for Governor Thomas J. Ridge, et al.

J. Matthew Wolfe, Richard C. Lengler, Thomas Kuzma, Harrisburg, for Johnny J. Butler.

John P. Krill, Jr., Linda J. Shorey, Harrisburg, for intervenors, Loeper, et al.

John J. Broujos, Carlisle, for intervenors, Belan, et al.

D. Michael Fisher, Atty. Gen., for Com. of Pennsylvania.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION

NIGRO, Justice.

The issue before this Court is whether the Commonwealth Court erred in sustaining preliminary objections to Appellants' claim that the legislative process used in enacting Senate Bill No. 801 (S.B.801), which ultimately became Act 57 of 1996, violated Article III, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. We agree with Appellants that the Commonwealth Court erred in sustaining preliminary objections as to this issue. However, after reviewing the underlying constitutional issue on the merits, as warranted by the circumstances of this case, we conclude that Article III, Section 5 was not violated in the instant matter.

On March 21, 1995, S.B. 801 was introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Industry. S.B. 801 was directed at expanding the coverage allowable under the State Workmen's Insurance Fund (SWIF), Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 762, as amended, 77 P.S. §§ 201-395.¹ On January 31, 1996, the Senate Committee on Labor and Industry reported an amended version of S.B. 801, with amendments relating to SWIF, to the full Senate. The full Senate re-referred S.B. 801 to the Senate Appropriations Committee. This Committee further amended the bill, with amendments again relating to the subject of SWIF and a change in the bill's title, and reported the bill to the full Senate on February 7, 1996. On February 12, 1996, the full Senate passed S.B. 801 by a vote of 48 to 0.

The bill was then referred to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' Committee on Labor Relations. This Committee further amended S.B. 801, with the amendments again limited to the subject of SWIF and the title of the bill, and reported the bill to the full House of Representatives. On May 1, 1996, the House passed S.B. 801, as amended by its Committee on Labor Relations, by a vote of 197 to 0.

Following passage of S.B. 801 by the House, the bill was returned to the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Nominations (Senate Rules Committee). Pursuant to its authority under Senate Rule XIV.5, the Senate Rules Committee further amended S.B. 801 on June 11, 1996.² These amendments included changes to the Workers' Compensation Act, Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. §§ 1-1041.4, and a modification of the bill's title. On June 12, 1996, S.B. 801 was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Industry, which reported the bill without further amendment.³ The bill was then re-referred to the Senate Rules Committee, which further amended the bill but retained the amended title, and reported it to the full Senate. The full Senate then passed S.B. 801 by a vote of 27 to 22.⁴

On June 19, 1996, S.B. 801 was returned to the House of Representatives and referred to the House Committee on Rules, which reported the bill to the full House as committed. By a vote of 106 to 97, the full House passed S.B. 801.⁵ The bill was then signed by the Presiding Officer in both the Senate and the House on June 20, 1996. Governor Thomas Ridge then signed S.B. 801 into law, and the bill became Act 57 of 1996 (Act 57).

On July 19, 1996, Appellants filed a Petition for Review in the Nature of a Complaint in Equity (Petition for Review) with the Commonwealth Court, addressed to the court's original jurisdiction. In the Petition for Review, Appellants alleged, inter alia, that the General Assembly had violated mandatory provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution, including Article III, Sections 1-5, when it enacted Act 57. Pursuant to the Petition for Review, Appellants sought a declaratory judgment that Act 57 was unconstitutional and further requested that Governor Ridge be enjoined from implementing the Act.⁶

On August 19, 1996, Appellees Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor Ridge and Secretary of Labor Johnny Butler filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer to the Petition for Review, asserting that Appellants had failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted. Pennsylvania State Senators Joseph Loeper, Gibson Armstrong and Noah Wenger (Loeper Intervenors) were granted leave to intervene and also filed preliminary objections to the Petition for Review. In addition to asserting that Appellants had failed to state a cause of action, the Loeper Intervenors also claimed that Appellants' claims in the Petition for Review were non-justiciable pursuant to the Enrolled Bill Doctrine, the Political Questions Doctrine and the Speech and Debate Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Pennsylvania State Senators Albert Belan, Gerald LaValle, Richard Kasunic, and Christine Tartaglione (Belan Intervenors) were also granted leave to intervene and filed a Petition for Review, alleging the same constitutional deficiencies in the General Assembly's enactment of Act 57 as the Appellants' Petition for Review. Both Appellees and the Loeper Intervenors also filed preliminary objections to the Belan Intervenors' Petition for Review.

On April 1, 1997, the Commonwealth Court, sitting en banc, issued an order sustaining in part and denying in part the various preliminary objections filed by Appellees/Loeper Intervenors (collectively Appellees), and dismissed the Petitions for Review. Specifically, the Commonwealth Court overruled Appellees' preliminary objections with respect to the issues of justiciability, finding that the Appellants'/Belan Intervenors' (collectively Appellants) constitutional claims were not barred by the Enrolled Bill Doctrine, the Political Question Doctrine or the Speech and Debate Clause. However, the Commonwealth Court sustained Appellees' preliminary objections with respect to all other issues, finding that the procedure used by the General Assembly in enacting Act 57 had complied with the mandates of Article III, Sections 1-5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Both Appellants and Appellees appealed to this Court.

As a threshold issue, Appellees, as cross-Appellants, assert that the Commonwealth Court erred in overruling their preliminary objections with respect to the justiciability of Appellants' constitutional claims. They argue that, contrary to the Commonwealth Court's findings, judicial inquiry into Appellants' claims is barred by the Enrolled Bill Doctrine, the Political Questions Doctrine and the Speech and Debate Clause. We disagree. Instead, we conclude that the Commonwealth Court properly disposed of these issues pursuant to well-developed case law and therefore, affirm the overruling of Appellees' preliminary objections as to the justiciability of Appellants' constitutional claims on the basis of the Commonwealth Court's opinion. See Pennsylvania AFL-CIO v. Commonwealth, 691 A.2d 1023, 1030-1034 (Pa. Commw.1997).

In their briefs to this Court, Appellants devote the majority of their argument to their contention that the Commonwealth Court erred in sustaining Appellees' preliminary objections to Appellants' claim that the procedure used by the General Assembly in enacting Act 57 violated Article III, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution (Article III, Section 5). Given the standard governing appellate review of the propriety of sustaining preliminary objections, we agree with Appellants.

Preliminary objections should be sustained only in cases that are clear and free from doubt. Bower v. Bower, 531 Pa. 54, 57, 611 A.2d 181, 182 (1992). In ruling on whether preliminary objections were properly sustained, an appellate court must determine whether it is clear from doubt from all the facts pleaded that the pleader will be unable to prove facts legally sufficient to establish a right to relief. Commonwealth v. Labor Relations Board, 545 Pa. 288, 292, 681 A.2d 157, 159 (1996).

Here, in sustaining Appellees' preliminary objections, the Commonwealth Court concluded that Appellants had failed to convince the court that the General Assembly, in enacting Act 57, had violated Article III, Section 5. In reaching this conclusion, however, the Commonwealth Court specifically noted that before the instant case, no Pennsylvania court had interpreted the language of Article III, Section 5 in a published opinion. In fact, the Commonwealth Court explicitly recognized that more than one interpretation of the...