Opinion ID: 2141050
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: H.E.A. 1435 is a Free-Standing, Complete Act Independent of H.E.A. 1598

Text: H.E.A. 1435 was passed by both Houses of the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. On its face, H.E.A. 1435 concerns only one subject: the revision of Indiana's Prevailing Wage Act. Therefore, it does not violate Art. 4, § 19. A comparison of H.E.A. 1598 and H.E.A. 1435 with respective revision marks included does show that H.E.A. 1435 was a revision of H.E.A. 1598's revisions of IC 5-16-7, but such a comparison is not relevant to consideration of the validity of an act under Art. 4, § 19. The inclusion of such marks is for researching convenience only and the marks are not part and parcel of the final laws which are passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. Printing Code, Preface to 1995 Acts, 1995 Ind. Acts at v (1995). Our concern is whether the act as finally passed is valid or not. Jackson v. State ex rel. South Bend Motor Bus Co., 194 Ind. 248, 253, 142 N.E. 423, 424 (1924). What is material to the pending constitutional question is that H.E.A. 1435 embodies a complete scheme for the revision of the Prevailing Wage Act, passed by both Houses of the General Assembly, and signed by the Governor. The act's enabling language specifically states that IC 5-16-7-1 [and -4]. . . [ARE] AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS, as it sets out the full texts of the new IC 5-16-7-1 and -4 which the legislature considered and passed, and which the governor considered and signed. In other words, H.E.A. 1435 does not depend upon the validity of H.E.A. 1598 for its comprehensibility or existence. The reference to H.E.A. 1598 in H.E.A. 1435's enabling language ( i.e. AS AMENDED BY HEA 1598) merely indicates that H.E.A. 1435 abrogates and nullifies the prevailing wage revisions made to IC 5-16-7 by H.E.A. 1598. The trial court saw H.E.A. 1435 not as a second amendment to Indiana Code ch. 5-16-7, but as an amendment to H.E.A. 1598. This was erroneous. The trial court found H.E.A. 1598 unconstitutional, and, because an amendment cannot make valid an act which was invalid because it was in violation of the Constitution, Keane v. Remy, 201 Ind. 286, 295-96, 168 N.E. 10, 14 (Ind.1929), the court reasoned H.E.A. 1435 must also be invalid. Keane held that because a 1921 act violated Art. 4, § 23 of Indiana's Constitution, a 1929 amendment to that act could have no force, as it amended an act which was void. In contrast to the 1921 act in Keane, §§ 5-16-7-1 & -4 comprise a valid statute and amendments to these code provisions are not legal nullities. Although H.E.A. 1435's enabling language can be read to indicate that the legislature considered IC 5-16-7 previously amended by H.E.A. 1598, this consideration does not change the fact that H.E.A. 1435's purpose was to amend IC 5-16-7, not H.E.A. 1598. The trial court's erroneous conclusion with respect to which act H.E.A. 1435 amended led to an inappropriate application of Keane.