Unemployment Compensation Commission of Wyoming v. Renner, 2261

• Decision Date: 16 November 1943
• Docket Number: 2261
• Citation: 59 Wyo. 437,143 P.2d 181
• Parties: UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION COMMISSION OF WYOMING, Plaintiff, v. HOMER RENNER AND WILLARD LESTER, A COPARTNERSHIP, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE FIRM NAME AND STYLE OF RENNER SAW MILL, Defendants
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

143 P.2d 181

59 Wyo. 437

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION COMMISSION OF WYOMING, Plaintiff, v. HOMER RENNER AND WILLARD LESTER, A COPARTNERSHIP, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE FIRM NAME AND STYLE OF RENNER SAW MILL, Defendants

No. 2261

Supreme Court of Wyoming

November 16, 1943

Reserved Case from Big Horn County; P. W. Metz, Judge.

Action by the Unemployment Compensation Commission of Wyoming against Homer Renner and another, a copartnership doing business under the firm name and style of Renner Saw Mill, to recover payments due under the Unemployment Compensation Act. From a judgment for plaintiff in a justice court the defendants appealed to the district court, which court reserved for the Supreme Court the following constitutional questions arising in the case:

Is Unemployment Compensation Act, being Chapter 113, Session Laws of Wyoming, 1937, repugnant to and in violation of the following sections of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming?

1. Section 28 of Article I, which provides that all taxation shall be equal and uniform.

2. Section 34 of Article I, which provides that all laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation.

3. Section 27 of Article III, which provides that the Legislature shall not pass special laws for the assessment or collection of taxes.

4. Section 27, Article III, which provides that in all cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted.

5. Section 6 of Article XVI, for the reason that benefits paid under said law are donations or loans prohibited by the said Section 6, of Article XVI.

6. Section 32 of Article I, which provides that private property shall not be taken for private use, unless by consent of the owner, nor in any case without due compensation.

7. Section 33 of Article I, which provides that private property shall not be taken for public or private use without just compensation.

Questions answer in the negative.

For the plaintiff there was a brief by Louis J. O'Marr, Attorney General, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and James G. McClintock, Casper Wyoming, and oral argument by Mr. McClintock.

POINTS OF COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF

The Federal Social Security Act is constitutional: Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, 81 L.Ed. 779, 57 S.Ct. 883. Constitutionality of the Alabama Act upheld: Carmichael v. Southern Coal and Coke Co., 81 L.Ed. 811, 57 S.Ct 868. Various state laws have been declared constitutional Beeland Wholesale Co. v. Kaufman, 174 So. 516 (Ala.); Buckstaff Bathhouse v. McKinney, 127 S.W.2d 802 (Ark.); Gillum v. Johnson, 62 P. 2d 1037 (Calif.); Gernatt v. Hiid, 16 S.E.2d 587 (Ga.); Main Unemployment Compensation Commission v. Healy, 16 A.2d 252; Tatum v. Wheeless, 178 So. 95 (Miss.); Howe Bros. v. Massachusetts Unemployment Compensation Commission, 5 N.E.2d 720; Chamberlain v. Andrews, 2 N.E.2d 22 (N. Y.); Southern Photo Co. v. Gore, 114 S.W.2d 796 (Tenn.); Freidman v. American Surety Co., 151 S.W.2d 570 (Tex.); Globe Grain and Milling Co. v. Industrial Commission, 91 P. 2d 512 (Utah); Shelton Hotel Co. v. Bates, 104 P. 2d 478 (Wash.). Legislative intention as a guide to statutory construction well settled: 59 Corpus Juris 948. The police power of the State is most essential: State v. Sherman, 18 Wyo. 169, p. 176. Workmen's Compensation Law constitutional: Zancanelli v. Central Coal & Coke Co., 25 Wyo. 511, p. 530. Leading case on constitutionality of state unemployment compensation laws: Carmichael v. Southern Coal and Coke Company, supra. As to reasonableness of classification and exclusion of agricultural labor: State v. A. H. Read, 33 Wyo. 387; Organization of Bench Canal Drainage District, 24 Wyo. 143; State v. Snyder, 29 Wyo. 199. An example of unreasonable classification: State v. LeBarron, 24 Wyo. 519. Money payments are not donations: Carmichael Case, supra.

For the defendants the cause was submitted upon the brief of Charles L. Brome, Basin, Wyoming.

POINTS OF COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS

In examining legal questions involving constitutionality, "police power" is a major topic for discussion. Police power defined: State v. Langley, 53 Wyo. 342, 343. The classification excluding farmers, domestics, etc. is not reasonable. It is unreasonable to impose upon employers the burden of the economic insecurity of the unemployed. This burden where it exists, is common to all and should be met in the same manner as all other necessary expenditures of government: State v. LeBarron, 24 Wyo. 519. The placing of the burden upon employers only constitutes class legislation. It is a special law for the collection of taxes from employers. The tax is not equal or uniform. The failure to include all employers on the assessable list renders the statute in violation of the Constitution. McGarvey v. Swan, 17 Wyo. 138. A statute authorizing a tax by counties to aid incorporated fair associations violates Section 6 of Article 16: Board of Commissioners v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 25 Wyo. 463; State v. Carter, 30 Wyo. 29. The taking of the employer's money for the benefit of "eligible individuals" who render no service to the employer and have never been in his service constitutes a violation of Section 32, Article I and Section 33, Article I of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming. In Weaver v. Public Service Commission, 40 Wyo. 479, this court held that a legislative enactment authorizing the Public Service Commission to prohibit the use of the public highways to a private carrier violated Section 33 of Article I of the Constitution.

BLUME, Justice. KIMBALL, Ch. J., and RINER, J., concur.

OPINION

BLUME, Justice.

The Unemployment Compensation Commission of this State recovered a judgment in the Justice Court in Big Horn County, Wyoming, against Homer Renner and Willard Lester, copartners, operating under the name of Renner Saw Mill, for the sum of $ 93.23 on account of payments due from the appellants under Chapter 113, Session Laws of 1937, amended by Chapter 58 of the Session Laws of 1943, known as the Unemployment Compensation Law. The defendants in the case, called appellants herein, took an appeal to the District Court of Big Horn County, Wyoming, and that Court has submitted to us for answer constitutional questions arising in the case, namely, whether the legislative act in question is in violation of the following constitutional provisions, to-wit:

1. Section 27, Article III: "The legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say, * * * for the assessment or collection of taxes * * * in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable no special law shall be enacted."

2. Section 34, Article I: "All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation."

3. Section 28, Article I: "* * * All taxation shall be equal and uniform."

4. Section 32, Article I: "Private property shall not be taken for private use * * * nor in any case without due compensation."

5. Section 33, Article I: "Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public or private use without just compensation."

6. Section 6, Article XVI: "Neither the State, nor any county, city, township, town, school district, or any other political subdivision, shall loan or give its credit, or make donations to, or in aid of any individual, association or corporation, except for necessary support of the poor * * *."

The statute in question is long and is similar to many unemployment compensation acts in other states. The details thereof need not be set out and a general outline will suffice. Its purpose is to provide compensation for employees during involuntary unemployment. The amount of payments range from $ 7.00 to $ 20.00 per week, depending on the amount which the workmen have previously earned. The benefit is confined to unemployed workmen who register for work, are able to work, are available for work, and have been employed for a certain length of time previous to the time of making claim for payment. Other limitations are mentioned in the statute. In order to raise a fund from which these payments may be made, the statute imposes a charge or tax upon the total payroll of the respective employers in this state, excepting from the statute, however, payments made by employers of agricultural, ranch or dude ranch labor, domestic service, public service, service for charitable purpose, and "service performed by an individual in the employ of his son, daughter, or spouse, and service performed by a child under the age of 21 in the employ of his father or mother." The Unemployment Compensation Commission, provided in the statute, is required to keep a separate account for each employer. Employers are divided into seven classes and the rate of contribution to the fund depends upon the status of their account and the amount which has been drawn against it by reason of payments made to former employees, the rate of payment varying from one-half of 1% to 3.6% of the total payroll of the respective employer, the standard rate being 2.7%. The fund created by the contributions is a separate fund held by the State Treasurer, separate and apart from the public funds of the state, and is to be used solely for the purpose of meeting the payments to be made to unemployed workmen.

I. The first question to be answered herein is as to whether or not the statute in question is a special or a general law, in contravention of Section 27 of Article III of the Constitution which provides that in all cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted and the legislature shall not pass special laws for the assessment or collection of taxes. We think that the decisions of this Court dispose of this question. It was stated in Standard Cattle Company v. Baird, 8 Wyo 144, 157, 56 P. 598, that "a law...