Opinion ID: 2144018
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Langa v. Gade

Text: In Langa v. Gade, No. 81249, the plaintiff, Irv Langa, individually and d/b/a Langa Air, Inc. (Langa), initiated his declaratory judgment and injunction action in the circuit court of Madison County on January 3, 1996. Langa filed his two-count, first-amended complaint on March 6, 1996, naming as defendants the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, State Comptroller Loleta Didrickson, State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, and Director of Revenue Ken Zehnder. Langa's complaint was directed primarily at article 3 of Public Act 89-428. As stated, article 3 created the Environmental Impact Fee Law. Langa's complaint alleged that he owned and operated Langa Air, Inc., in the course of which be buys aviation fuel from receivers that are required to pay the environmental impact fee imposed by article 3. Langa claimed to be adversely affected by the additional costs imposed on receivers by article 3. Count I of Langa's first-amended complaint charged that Public Act 89-428, in its entirety, was unconstitutional because it violated the single subject rule of the Illinois Constitution. In count II, Langa alleged that article 3 violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection because it exempted certain airports from paying the fee. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss Langa's complaint on April 17, 1996. The defendants argued that Langa did not have standing because he was not a receiver subject to the fee and further argued that Public Act 89-428 did not violate either the single subject rule or the guarantee of equal protection. On May 2, 1996, Langa filed a motion for summary judgment. The Cook County circuit court's decision in Johnson v. Edgar, declaring Public Act 89-428 unconstitutional, was handed down on May 7, 1996. The Madison County circuit court in Langa v. Gade was apprised of the Johnson decision. On May 24, 1996, the defendants filed a second motion to dismiss Langa's complaint based on the May 22, 1996, enactment of a separate Environmental Impact Fee Law in Public Act 89-457. The defendants argued that, as a result of Public Act 89-457, Langa's constitutional challenge to Public Act 89-428 was moot and his complaint should be dismissed. The circuit court issued an order on June 3, 1996, granting Langa's motion for summary judgment and denying the defendants' motions to dismiss. The court ruled that Langa had standing to bring this action, his challenge to Public Act 89-428 was not moot, and Public Act 89-428 violated the single subject rule of the Illinois Constitution. [1] The court permanently enjoined the defendants from enforcing any provision of Public Act 89-428. The defendants appealed directly to this court pursuant to Rule 302(a). The defendants have not appealed the circuit court's ruling on the standing issue.