Opinion ID: 4423559
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the two-thirds provisions apply here

Text: ¶25 After the legislature replaced Proposition 2 with H.B. 3001, Petitioners Maxfield, Newby, Grant, and Christie, as well as Lelia M. Grant, immediately filed with the Lieutenant Governor an application for a referendum. The Lieutenant Governor denied the application for two reasons: (1) because the 8 Cite as: 2019 UT 42 Opinion of the Court Lieutenant Governor determined that Petitioner Newby had not voted in a regular general election in Utah in the previous three years and therefore did not meet the requirements of Utah Code section 20A-7-302(2)(b)(ii), and (2) because H.B. 3001 passed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature. ¶26 Petitioners argue that the statutory and constitutional provisions precluding a referendum on laws passed by two-thirds of both houses of the legislature (Two-Thirds Provisions) should not apply to legislation that originated as a citizen initiative. And they argue that the statutory requirements to sponsor a referendum are unconstitutional. We first address their argument regarding the Two-Thirds Provisions. ¶27 Both the Utah Constitution and the Utah Code provide that laws passed by a two-thirds supermajority are not subject to a voter referendum. See UTAH CONST. art. VI, § 1(2)(a)(i)(B); UTAH CODE § 20A-7-102(2). Article VI, section 1(2)(a)(i)(B) of the Utah Constitution permits legal voters to “require any law passed by the Legislature, except those laws passed by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house of the Legislature, to be submitted to the voters of the State, as provided by statute, before the law may take effect.” (Emphasis added.) Additionally, Utah Code section 20A-7-102(2) mirrors the constitutional Two-Thirds Provision, stating: “Utah voters may . . . require any law passed by the Legislature, except those laws passed by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house of the Legislature, to be referred to the voters for their approval or rejection before the law takes effect . . . .” ¶28 Petitioners argue that these Two-Thirds Provisions “can only be read as being designed to prevent a Citizen referendum on laws passed on legislation originally proposed and enacted by the Legislature in its normal and regular general session.” And they further argue that the Two-Thirds Provisions cannot be applied to a citizen initiative “when the Legislature creates special powers for itself, without granting the same and equal right to the People.” Accordingly, Petitioners contend that the Lieutenant Governor wrongly applied the Two-Thirds Provisions to a citizen initiative. ¶29 We first interpret the Two-Thirds Provision of the Utah Constitution. “The cardinal rule of constitutional interpretation is to begin with the plain language of the provision in question.” Univ. of Utah v. Shurtleff, 2006 UT 51, ¶ 30, 144 P.3d 1109. 9 GRANT v. HERBERT Opinion of the Court ¶30 The plain language of article VI, section 1(2)(a)(i)(B) of the Utah Constitution contravenes Petitioners’ arguments. It states that legal voters can “require any law passed by the Legislature, except those laws passed by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house of the Legislature, to be submitted to the voters of the State.” (Emphasis added.) It does not contain language to suggest that the Two-Thirds Provision applies only to legislation “originally proposed and enacted by the Legislature.” And it does not state that the law must be passed in a regular session. Rather, it simply refers to “any law passed by the Legislature.” UTAH CONST. art. VI, § 1(2)(a)(i)(B). To limit this language to legislation that did not amend a citizen initiative, or that was passed only in a regular session, would be to add language to the text that is not there. That we cannot do. See Krejci v. City of Saratoga Springs, 2013 UT 74, ¶ 9, 322 P.3d 662 (“We cannot append additional conditions to the statutory framework by judicial fiat.”); see also UTAH CONST. art. XXIII, § 1 (“Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in either house of the Legislature . . . .”). Petitioners have not made any legal or textual argument that compels reading our constitution differently than is dictated by its plain language. ¶31 The language in the Utah Code is nearly identical and is therefore subject to the same analysis. UTAH CODE § 20A-7-102(2) (“Utah voters may . . . require any law passed by the Legislature, except those laws passed by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house of the Legislature, to be referred to the voters for their approval or rejection before the law takes effect . . . .”). ¶32 While the Utah Constitution creates and protects the voters’ right to place legislation on the ballot for approval or rejection by the people, it also carves out an exception to that right. When both houses of the legislature pass legislation by a two-thirds supermajority, that law is not subject to a referendum. ¶33 As described above, H.B. 3001 was passed by the legislature. And both houses voted for the bill by a two-thirds supermajority. Accordingly, the Lieutenant Governor’s decision that it was exempt from a referendum was correct. ¶34 Because this renders moot Petitioners’ argument about the constitutionality of the statutory referendum sponsor requirements, we do not address it. 10 Cite as: 2019 UT 42 Opinion of the Court