Opinion ID: 1321543
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the budget bill fiscal year 1983-84

Text: On March 16, 1983, the last day of its 1983 Regular Session, the West Virginia Legislature passed Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 1150, the budget bill. That budget bill, applicable to fiscal year 1983-84, contained Account No. 4160 entitled State Health Department Mental Hospitals. Account No. 4160, as passed by the legislature, contained an appropriation of $25,302,747 for state mental hospitals, including Spencer Hospital. That appropriation included $18,503,471 for personal services; $5,984,063 for current expenses; $276,220 for repairs and alterations; $247,240 for equipment; $71,782 for the student nurse affiliation program (Huntington); and $219,971 for the psychiatric training center student nurses (Weston). [4] Later that day, March 16, 1983, the legislature adjourned sine die. The budget bill was presented to the governor on March 18, 1983. W.Va. Const., art. VI, § 51 D(11). The governor thereafter filed in the office of the West Virginia Secretary of State (1) the budget bill containing the governor's reductions of, inter alia, certain appropriations relating to Account No. 4160 and (2) the governor's message, dated March 21, 1983, concerning those budgetary reductions. [5] With respect to Account No. 4160, the governor in the margin of the budget bill changed the appropriation of $25,302,747 for State Health Department  Mental Hospitals to $24,083,405. Specifically, that account, as changed by the governor, included $17,772,599 for personal services; $5,569,828 for current expenses; $241,220 for repairs and alterations; $208,005 for equipment; $71,782 for the student nurse affiliation program (Huntington); and $219,971 for the psychiatric training center  student nurses (Weston). The March 21, 1983, message of the governor, filed with the budget bill in the office of the secretary of state, contained an introduction which stated, in part, as follows: As you will note, I have approved the bill, except for reductions and deletions explained in this message. The total amount realized by these actions is $13,706,687, of which $10,206,687 is from general revenues and $3,500,000 from special revenues. All of my actions were taken in the context of the severe economic condition of our state, and the obvious need to provide jobs for our people. National fiscal policy has resulted in an intolerable level of unemployment in our state. We all hope and pray that conditions will improve, but action should be taken at the state level to provide jobs to those who are in most need of them. The elimination of unnecessary expenditures in the budget bill makes money available for a modest jobs program. Furthermore, with respect to Account No. 4160 State Health Department  Mental Hospitals, the governor's message stated as follows: I have reduced line 1, Personal Services; line 2, Current Expenses; line 3, Repairs and Alterations; line 4, Equipment; and line 9, Total, accordingly. These reductions will allow $1.5 million for the operation of Spencer State Hospital as a 60 bed facility for the treatment of geriatric patients. In addition, it will also allow for over $1 million to improve the level and quality of personnel at Weston and Huntington State Hospitals so as to enhance the professional treatment of patients currently at Spencer. The State currently operates 12 state hospitals, with the attendant duplication of administrative costs. This should be eliminated to the fullest possible extent, so as to provide patients with the highest degree of care at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers. In these actions, the contentions of the petitioners include the following: (1) the legislature for fiscal year 1983-84 did not intend to close Spencer Hospital or substantially limit the role of Spencer Hospital with respect to mental health care, (2) the budget bill, containing the governor's veto or reduction of appropriations for Account No. 4160, was not timely filed in the office of the secretary of state, see n. 5, supra, (3) neither the budget bill nor the governor's message filed in the office of the secretary of state contained objections by the governor to legislative appropriations for Account No. 4160, (4) the veto or reduction of appropriations for Account No. 4160 will result in the transfer of a large number of patients of Spencer Hospital to other state facilities, such as Huntington Hospital and Weston Hospital, which other facilities are unable to accommodate the transfer and which transfer will be detrimental to the health of the patients at those facilities, as well as detrimental to the health of the patients to be transferred, (5) the veto or reduction of appropriations for Account No. 4160 was not financially sound and will result in the loss of federal funds to which this State could have been entitled, (6) the governor improperly attempted to transfer legislative appropriations for fiscal year 1983-84 from Spencer Hospital to Huntington Hospital and Weston Hospital, (7) the veto or reduction of appropriations for Account No. 4160 violates the constitutional and statutory rights of patients in mental health facilities of this State to proper health care and (8) closing Spencer Hospital or substantially limiting the operation of Spencer Hospital will be detrimental to the economic well-being of Roane County and the surrounding counties. Upon a careful review of all relevant matters, this Court has determined that one issue is dispositive of the actions before this Court, i.e., whether the budget bill or the governor's March 21, 1983, message, filed in the office of the secretary of state, contained objections by the governor to the legislative appropriations for Account No. 4160 for fiscal year 1983-84 as mandated by W.Va. Const., art. VI, § 51. Consequently, we need not address the other issues raised by the petitioners. We will discuss first the constitutional requirement of objections, and, second, the nature or purpose to be served by those objections.