Sager v. Keisling
Citation | 999 P.2d 1235,167 Or. App. 405 |
Parties | James SAGER and John Chase, Appellants, v. Phil KEISLING and Walter Huss, Respondents. |
Decision Date | 24 May 2000 |
Court | Court of Appeals of Oregon |
Margaret S. Olney, Portland, argued the cause and filed the brief for appellants.
David Schuman, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent Phil Keisling. With him on the brief were Hardy Myers, Attorney General, and Michael D. Reynolds, Solicitor General.
Terrance McCauley, Estacada, argued the cause for respondent Walter Huss. On the brief was James E. Leuenberger, Portland.
Before LANDAU, Presiding Judge, and ARMSTRONG and BREWER, Judges.
In this case, plaintiffs contend that proposed initiative Measure 2000-12 contains two or more constitutional amendments that must be voted on separately under Article XVII, section 1, of the Oregon Constitution. In the alternative, they contend that the measure constitutes a revision of the constitution, which may not be effected by initiative. Secretary of State Phil Keisling (Secretary) concluded that the measure contains only one constitutional amendment and is not a constitutional revision. The trial court agreed. We conclude that Measure 2000-12 does contain two or more constitutional amendments and consequently do not address whether the measure amounts to a constitutional revision. We therefore reverse.
Measure 2000-12 is similar to the measure that we addressed in Dale v. Keisling, 167 Or.App. 394, 999 P.2d 1229, (2000), in that, if enacted, it would eliminate most existing forms of taxation and replace them with a single "gross receipts" tax. But it is not identical to the measure at issue in Dale, so we must describe its contents and its effects to determine independently the extent to which it contains more than two constitutional amendments.
Measure 2000-12 is organized into five "paragraphs." The first paragraph would amend the constitution by creating a new article, to be known as Article IX-A, which would consist of ten separate sections. The remaining paragraphs contain mostly administrative and implementation provisions. Section 1 provides:
Section 7 prohibits the state or any local authority from incurring any indebtedness. Section 8 provides that, when federal law requires the imposition of a state tax or fee as a condition for receiving a federal benefit, the legislature is authorized to refer the acceptance of the benefit and the imposition of the tax to the people, provided that the acceptance includes a memorial to Congress seeking a waiver or repeal of the condition. Section 9 authorizes the legislature to enact remedies for failure to pay the gross receipts tax. Section 10 provides that the new Article IX-A may be amended only by a vote of the people, subject to a double-majority requirement, that is, by a majority of the votes cast in a majority of the counties.
Chief petitioner Walter Huss filed Measure 2000-12 with the Secretary, who then issued a notice seeking public input to assist in the review of the measure for compliance with constitutional requirements. Plaintiffs submitted comments in which they suggested that the measure contained more than two constitutional amendments or amounted to a constitutional revision. The Secretary disagreed and approved the form of the measure.
Plaintiffs then initiated this action for judicial review of an order in other than a contested case, ORS 183.484, and of the Secretary's decision under ORS 246.910. They named as defendants the Secretary and Huss. Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment. The Secretary did likewise, and Huss joined the Secretary's motion. The trial court denied plaintiffs' motion, granted the Secretary's, and entered judgment declaring that Measure 2000-12 contains only one constitutional amendment and does not amount to a constitutional revision. On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in concluding that the measure contains only one constitutional amendment and that it does not amount to a constitutional revision.
As we explained in Dale, whether a proposed initiative measure contains more than two amendments to the constitution under Article XVII, section 1, is determined by reference to a three-part inquiry. First, we inquire whether the enactment of the measure would effect two or more "changes" to the constitution. Second, we ask whether those changes would be "substantive" in nature. Third, we ask whether those changes are "closely related." 167 Or.App. at 398-99, 999 P.2d at 1232-33.
We begin with whether the enactment of Measure 2000-12 would effect two or more changes to the constitution. The parties disagree about the scope of the changes that the enactment of the measure would require, but they agree that it would require multiple changes to the existing constitution.
If enacted, Measure 2000-12 would require at least the following...
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