Roger Sherman Liberty Ctr. Inc. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 27 June 2011
• Docket Number: No. CV–11–6021502.,CV–11–6021502.
• Citation: 52 Conn.Supp. 118,28 A.3d 1026
• Parties: ROGER SHERMAN LIBERTY CENTER, INC., et al.v.Donald E. WILLIAMS, Jr., et al.
• Court: Connecticut Superior Court

52 Conn.Supp. 118

28 A.3d 1026

ROGER SHERMAN LIBERTY CENTER, INC., et al.

v.Donald E. WILLIAMS, Jr., et al.

No. CV–11–6021502.

Superior Court of Connecticut, Judicial District of Hartford.

June 27, 2011.

Martha A. Dean, Avon, for the plaintiffs.Jane R. Rosenberg, Mark F. Kohler and Gregory T. D'Auria, assistant attorneys general, and Peregrine Zinn–Rowthorn, associate attorney general, for the defendants.GRAHAM, J.

The plaintiffs, Roger Sherman Liberty Center, Inc., Mark Greenberg, Leonard F. Suzio, Jr., Christopher D. Coutu and Dorothy Durst, initiated this action by verified complaint on May 9, 2011, and filed an amended complaint on May 17, 2011. They seek a writ of quo warranto, declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, asking the court to render null and void Public Acts 2011, No. 11–6 (P.A. 11–6), on the ground that it violates the constitution of Connecticut. The plaintiffs have named as defendants: Donald Williams, in his official capacity as the president pro tempore of the Senate; Christopher Donovan, in his official capacity as the speaker of the House of Representatives; Dannel Malloy, in his official capacity as the governor; and Benjamin Barnes, in his official capacity as the secretary of the office of policy and management.

The plaintiffs allege that the bill, titled “An Act Concerning the Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2013,” (budget bill) violates the constitution because it is unbalanced. The plaintiffs allege that the budget is in violation of article third, § 18(a), of the constitution of Connecticut, which prohibits the General Assembly from authorizing general budgetary expenditures that exceed anticipated revenues for the corresponding fiscal year. The plaintiffs allege that the budget bill authorizes budgetary expenditures that exceed anticipated revenues by approximately $2 billion over two years.

Currently before the court is the defendants' June 1, 2011 motion to dismiss the amended complaint on the ground that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' claims. The plaintiffs filed an objection to the motion on June 15, 2011. The defendants filed a reply memorandum on June 22, 2011. Oral argument was heard by the court on June 24, 2011 and, after a recess, the court announced its judgment of dismissal from the bench, with a brief summary of the reasons for that order. The court now details its reasoning in a written opinion.¹

While the parties are at odds over what legal conclusions the court should draw from the facts, the relevant facts are not themselves in dispute. In their respective memoranda and at the hearing, all counsel relied upon the same facts. There was no testimony at the hearing and only one exhibit was offered.

The budget bill as initially enacted included estimated revenues for fiscal year 2012 of approximately $20,196 billion and net appropriations of approximately $20.14 billion. Not included in the net appropriations is more than $1 billion in unallocated lapses, various reductions and labor-management savings. The 2013 fiscal year budget is similar in approach although the exact numbers differ (approximately $20.92 billion estimated revenues, approximately $20.4 billion in net appropriations and, again, more than $1 billion in unallocated lapses, various reductions and labor-management savings).

To achieve these reductions in budget expenditures for the biennium ending June 30, 2013, the legislature enacted certain provisions whereby further steps are required to reduce costs in personal services, other expenses and labor management savings after passage of the budget bill. Section 11 of the budget bill states in relevant part: “(a) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall recommend reductions in expenditures for Personal Services, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, in order to reduce such expenditures by $12,014,800 for such purpose during each such fiscal year .... (b) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall recommend reductions in expenditures for Other Expenses, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, in order to reduce such expenditures for such purpose by $9,440,200 during each such fiscal year....” Section 12 states: “(a) Any agreement reached through negotiations between the state and the State Employees Bargaining Unit Coalition (SEBAC) concerning wages, hours and other conditions of employment to achieve the labor-management savings specified in this act shall be subject to approval of the General Assembly in accordance with section 5–278 of the general statutes. (b)(1) On or before May 31, 2011, the Governor shall submit the plan described in this subdivision in writing to the General Assembly. If an agreement described in subsection (a) of this section has been reached, such plan shall include (A) recommendations for legislation to apply terms comparable to those contained in such agreement to nonrepresented employees for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, and (B) if such agreement achieves less than two billion dollars in savings over the biennium ending June 30, 2013, recommendations for budget adjustments to achieve the difference between that amount and two billion dollars. If no agreement described in subsection (a) of this section has been reached, such plan shall include recommendations for budget adjustments not to exceed two billion dollars over the biennium ending June 30, 2013. (2) On or before June 8, 2011, the General Assembly shall enact legislation to (A) apply terms comparable to those contained in an agreement described in subsection (a) of this section and approved in accordance with section 5–278 of the general statutes to nonrepresented employees for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, and (B) achieve budget adjustments not to exceed two billion dollars over the biennium ending June 30, 2013, to the extent such savings have not been achieved under any such agreement. (c) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall make reductions in expenditures not to exceed two billion dollars over the biennium ending June 30, 2013, (1) as provided in an agreement described in subsection (a) of this section and approved in accordance with section 5–278 of the general statutes for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, and (2) contained in legislation enacted by the General Assembly under subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section.”

Since the filing of the amended complaint, several developments have occurred, which are relevant to this action and which the parties have conceded on the record. On or about May 27, 2011, the governor and the officials for SEBAC signed a tentative agreement—subject to the ratification of the union members—that would achieve $1.6 billion savings over the course of the biennium. Then, on May 31, 2011, the governor submitted a plan to the legislature that included $1.6 billion in labor-management savings and allocated $400 million from an expected budget surplus. On June 6, 2011, the House of Representatives passed H.B. 6652, “An Act Implementing the Revenue Items in the Budget and Making Budget Adjustments, Deficiency Appropriations, Certain Revisions to Bills of the Current Session and Miscellaneous Changes to the General Statutes,” which, inter alia, implemented the governor's recommendations to balance the budget. On June 7, 2011, the Senate approved the same; it was subsequently signed by the Governor and it is now Public Acts 2011, No. 11–61 (P.A. 11–61). On June 8, 2011, the legislative session ended.

All thirty-four of the bargaining units comprising SEBAC were scheduled to vote on the labor agreement by June 24, 2011; at the time of the hearing the voting was incomplete and the outcome was neither known nor placed in the record. If the agreement was approved, the legislature would either be called into special session to approve the agreement or, after thirty days, the agreement would be deemed approved. If the agreement was rejected, the statute requires that the governor submit further recommendations to the legislature to achieve budget reductions. At the hearing, exhibit A was introduced, being the June 23, 2011 call by the governor for a special session on June 30, 2011. It states that ratification by SEBAC members “now appears to be in doubt” and seeks “prompt action by the General Assembly....”

“A motion to dismiss ... properly attacks the jurisdiction of the court, essentially asserting that the plaintiff cannot as a matter of law and fact state a cause of action that should be heard by the court.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) C.R. Klewin Northeast, LLC v. State, 299 Conn. 167, 174, 9 A.3d 326 (2010). “Subject matter jurisdiction involves the authority of the court to adjudicate the type of controversy presented by the action before it.... [A] court lacks discretion to consider the merits of a case over which it is without jurisdiction.... The objection of want of jurisdiction may be made at any time ... [a]nd the court or tribunal may act on its own motion, and should do so when the lack of jurisdiction is called to its attention.... The requirement of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived by any party and can be raised at any stage in the proceedings.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Burton v. Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., 300 Conn. 542, 550, 23 A.3d 1176 (2011).

In the present case, the defendants have raised issues of justiciability, which speak to the court's jurisdiction over the subject matter. “Because courts are established to resolve actual controversies, before a claimed controversy is entitled to a resolution on the merits it must be justiciable.... Justiciability requires (1) that there be an actual controversy between or among the parties to the dispute ... (2) that the interests of the parties be adverse ... (3) that the matter...