Opinion ID: 1242568
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: concurrent resolution

Text: Art. 2, § 1 of the Kansas Constitution provides: The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a house of representatives and senate. Art. 2, § 14(a) of the Kansas Constitution provides in pertinent part: [E]very bill shall be signed by the presiding officers and presented to the governor. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 12-343(f) provides in pertinent part: Unless the legislature, by concurrent resolution adopted on or before February 12, 1997, the 30th day of the 1997 regular session, rejects such plan, the plan shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the county at the school district general election on April 1, 1997. Such election shall be called and held by the county election officer in the manner provided by the general bond law. A summary of the final plan shall be prepared by the commission and shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. If a majority of the electors voting on the plan vote in favor thereof, the consolidation plan shall be implemented in the manner provided by the plan. If a majority of the electors vote against such plan, the proposed consolidation plan shall not be implemented. (Emphasis added.) The relator claims that 12-343(f) violated art. 2, §§ 1 and 14 of the Kansas Constitution and the separation of powers doctrine because it allowed the legislature the right to reject or veto the Plan by a concurrent resolution. As such, the relator claims that 12-343(f) effectively allowed the legislature to change or repeal the local option law without having to present such change to the Governor for approval. State ex rel. Stephan v. Kansas House of Representatives, 236 Kan. 45, 687 P.2d 622 (1984), discusses the use of a legislative veto. In Stephan, the Attorney General brought an action in mandamus and quo warranto against the legislature, seeking determination of the constitutionality of a statute, K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 77-426(c) and (d). This statute provided that the legislature may adopt, modify, or revoke administrative rules and regulations by concurrent resolutions passed by the legislature without presentment to the Governor. Pursuant to this statute, the legislature adopted concurrent resolutions during the 1983 and 1984 legislative sessions. The Attorney General brought a quo warranto case to test the validity of the statute and to test the validity of actions taken by the legislature pursuant to the statute. The Attorney General claimed that the statute violated that separation of powers doctrine because it allowed the legislature to usurp the executive power of administering and enforcing laws from the executive branch. Further, the Attorney General claimed that the statute violated art. 2, § 14 of the Kansas Constitution, which requires all bills to be presented to the Governor. In analyzing this statute, the Stephan court focused mainly on whether the concurrent resolution mechanism violated the separation of powers doctrine. However, the court also discussed whether the mechanism violated the required procedure under art. 2, § 14(a), which requires all bills to be presented to the Governor. In making its decision, the Stephan court relied on three out-of-state cases: INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 77 L. Ed.2d 317, 103 S. Ct. 2764 (1983); Consumer Energy, Etc. v. F.E.R.C., 673 F.2d 425 (D.C. Cir. 1982), aff'd 463 U.S. 1216, 77 L. Ed.2d 1402, 103 S. Ct. 3556, reh. denied 463 U.S. 1250 (1983); State v. A.L.I.V.E. Voluntary, 606 P.2d 769 (Alaska 1980). Each of these cases will be discussed in turn. In Chadha, the Court analyzed a federal act which allowed either house of Congress to veto, by resolution, a decision of the United States Attorney General to suspend an illegal alien's deportation. The I.N.S. had ruled that Chadha could remain in this country even though he was subject to deportation. Under the act at issue, the House of Representatives vetoed this decision, forcing the I.N.S. to issue an order of deportation. Chadha challenged the constitutionality of the act in federal court. The Supreme Court ruled that once the legislature properly delegated the power to the Attorney General in the executive branch to determine deportation issues, then Congress could not reverse the Attorney General's decision on such issues or reverse its own decision to delegate deportation issues to the Attorney General without bicameral passage of an act stating such reversal, followed by presentment of the act to the President. In other words, Congress must abide by its delegation of authority until that delegation is legislatively altered or revoked. 462 U.S. at 955. The Chadha Court concluded that the legislative action to reverse the Attorney General's deportation decision or reverse its own delegation of deportation issues to the Attorney General was subject to the procedures set out in Art. I, § 7 of the United States Constitution. This section requires that all legislative actions be passed by a majority of both houses of Congress and be presented to the President. Since the federal act allowed the legislature to undertake legislative action without such procedure, the Supreme Court found the act unconstitutional as a violation of Art. I, § 7 and of the separation of powers doctrine. 462 U.S. at 955-59. In Consumer Energy, Etc., 673 F.2d 425, the Federal Court of Appeals analyzed a one-house legislative veto provision in the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978. The legislative veto provision only allowed certain rulings of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (F.E.R.C.) to become effective if neither house in Congress adopted a resolution disapproving of such rules within 30 days of the rules being presented to Congress. Using this provision, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution which disapproved of one of the F.E.R.C.'s rulings. The Act, with this provision, was challenged as a violation of the separation of powers doctrine and as a violation of Art. I, § 7 of the United States Constitution. Upon evaluation, the United States Court of Appeals found that the one-house legislative veto mechanism violated Art. I, § 7 because it deprived the President of his veto power and because it did not follow the bicameral requirement in that it permitted legislative action by only one house of Congress. In other words, the court held the veto of the rules effectively changed the law by altering the scope of F.E.R.C.'s discretion and preventing one otherwise valid regulation from taking effect. Accordingly, the Senate's concurrence and presentation to the President were necessary prerequisites to the effectiveness of the disapproval resolution. 673 F.2d at 465. The federal court also ruled that the veto mechanism violated the separation of powers doctrine because it allowed the legislature to usurp powers already exercised and delegated to the other two branches of government. 673 F.2d at 471. As the federal court stated: The fundamental problem of the one-house veto, then, is that it represents an attempt by Congress to retain direct control over delegated administrative power. Congress may provide detailed rules of conduct to be administered without discretion by administrative officers, or it may provide broad policy guidance and leave the details to be filled in by administrative officers exercising substantial discretion. It may not, however, insert one of its houses as an effective administrative decisionmaker. 673 F.2d at 476. See also Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. v. F.T.C., 691 F.2d 575 (D.C. Cir. 1982), aff'd 463 U.S. 1216, 77 L. Ed.2d 1402, 103 S. Ct. 3556, reh. denied 463 U.S. 1250 (1983) (a similar legislative oversight mechanism contained in the Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act of 1980 was held to violate the separation of powers doctrine). Finally, the Stephan court relied on State v. A.L.I.V.E. Voluntary, 606 P.2d 769. In that case, the Alaska court analyzed a statute which allowed the legislature to reject a regulation of a state agency or department by adopting a concurrent resolution in both houses. However, the Alaska Constitution, like the Kansas Constitution, includes a section which requires a bill to be passed by a majority vote in each house of the legislature and presented to the Governor. The Alaska court held that the legislative veto mechanism violated these constitutional requirements. 609 P.2d at 770. See also General Assembly of State of New Jersey v. Byrne, 90 N. J. 376, 448 A.2d 438 (1982) (an act which allowed a legislature to veto, by concurrent resolution in both houses, all rules proposed by state agencies was found unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers doctrine and the presentment requirement of the New Jersey Constitution). Based on these cases, the Stephan court found that the legislative veto mechanism in K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 77-426(c) and (d) violated the separation of powers doctrine and the presentment requirement in art. 2, § 14 of the Kansas Constitution. As this court stated: As made clear by the court in Chadha, a resolution is essentially legislative where it affects the legal rights, duties and regulations of persons outside the legislative branch and therefore must comply with the enactment provisions of the constitution. 103 S. Ct. at 2784. See also State v. A.L.I.V.E. Voluntary, 606 P.2d at 773-74. Where our legislature attempts to reject, modify or revoke administrative rules and regulations by concurrent resolution it is enacting legislation which must comply with the provisions of art. 2, § 14. A bill does not become a law until it has the final consideration of the house, senate and governor as required by art. 2, § 14. Harris v. Shanahan, 192 Kan. 183, Syl. ¶ 1, 387 P.2d 771 (1963). This was not done here. The fact that K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 77-426 was passed in accordance with the provisions of art. 2, § 14 of our state constitution and the governor had the opportunity to veto it does not render subsequent acts of the legislature under the statute constitutional. The legislature cannot pass an act that allows it to violate the constitution. General Assembly of State of New Jersey v. Byrne, 90 N.J. at 391. As stated by the court in State v. A.L.I.V.E. Voluntary, 606 P.2d at 779: `In other words, by virtue of one enactment approved by the governor, the legislature can free itself, in certain instances, of the constitutional constraints that would otherwise govern its actions. Such an enactment would impermissibly preserve legislative power possessed at one instant in time for future periods when the legislature might otherwise be incapable of acting because of the executive veto. It would also do away with the formal safeguards of article II which are meant to accompany law-making. The requirements of the constitution may not be eliminated in this fashion.' 236 Kan. at 64. Under this analysis, the Stephan court held that K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 77-426(c) and (d) were unconstitutional and that the resolutions adopted by the legislature rejecting, adopting, and modifying certain administrative regulations pursuant to this statute were invalid. In this case, the legislature properly delegated the power to fill in the details of the local option (the Plan) to the Commission. Once it does so, the legislature may not reserve the power to take back such delegation by concurrent resolution if it disagrees with the Commission's Plan. If the legislature wishes to take back this delegation, it must do so by passing a statute which removes such delegation and present this statute to the Governor. It cannot do so simply by reserving the power to remove the delegation in the same act which delegates the power to the Commission. This is improper. See Stephan, 236 Kan. at 60 (Once the legislature has delegated by a law a function to the executive, it may only revoke that authority by proper enactment of another law in accordance with the provisions of art. 2, § 14 of our state constitution.). However, this issue concerning the legislature's reserved right to reject the Plan is, in fact, irrelevant because the legislature did not exercise this right. The legislature neither exercised nor attempted to exercise its reserved right to reject the Plan by concurrent resolution, nor did the Governor suggest the Plan be rejected, and the time to exercise that right has expired. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 12-343(f) (allowing 30 days for the legislature to reject the Plan); see Randall v. Seemann, 228 Kan. 395, 613 P.2d 1376 (1980) (issue is meaningless after its relevance has passed). In addition, K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 12-343(f) can be severed from the rest of the Act so that the entire Act and the resulting Plan does not need to be struck down. Where parts of a statute or a section of a statute can be readily separated, then the part which is constitutional may stand while the unconstitutional part is rejected. Voran v. Wright, 129 Kan. 601, Syl. ¶ 6, 284 Pac. 807 (1930). As Sedlak v. Dick, 256 Kan. 779, 803, 887 P.2d 1119 (1995), provides: In Thompson v. K.F.B. Ins. Co., 252 Kan. 1010, 1023, 850 P.2d 773 (1993), we stated the test to be applied: `Whether the court may sever an unconstitutional provision from a statute and leave the remainder in force and effect depends on the intent of the legislature. If from examination of a statute it can be said that the act would have been passed without the objectional portion and if the statute would operate effectively to carry out the intention of the legislature with such portion stricken, the remainder of the valid law will stand. Whether the legislature had provided for a severability clause is of no importance. This court will assume severability if the unconstitutional part can be severed without doing violence to legislative intent.' (Quoting Felton Truck Line v. State Board of Tax Appeals, 183 Kan. 287, 300, 327 P.2d 836 [1958].) In this case, K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 12-343(f), which reserved the right of the legislature to reject the Plan by concurrent resolution, is a discrete provision of the Act that can be severed from the Act without doing violence to the basic statutory scheme. See State, ex rel., v. Consumers Warehouse Market, 185 Kan. 363, Syl. ¶ 2, 343 P.2d 234 (1959). Since the improper legislative veto is irrelevant because it was never exercised and is severable from the rest of the Act, this issue fails.