Opinion ID: 2366383
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Existence of the Power

Text: The provisions of article 9, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution are straightforward and unambiguous. The Governor is endowed by these provisions with the authority (not mandatory) to fill vacancies in office not otherwise provided for by this Constitution or by law, until the same shall be filled by the general assembly, or by the people. The Senate and the House as amici agree that there is no specific provision in the State Constitution for the filling of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor. This is contrasted with the clearly focused provisions contained in article 4, section 4, of the Constitution, which provide for filling of a vacancy in the offices of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, or the General Treasurer by the Grand Committee of the General Assembly. This section also authorizes the Governor to appoint some person to fill such a vacancy until a successor is elected by the General Assembly and is qualified to act. The House and the Senate are in consonance in contending that although the Constitution does not provide for the filling of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, save by the general provisions of article 9, section 5, the provisions of that section are nevertheless not triggered by a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor. They argue that other provisions of the Constitution provide for transfer of the functions of the office of Lieutenant Governor in his absence or inability to serve for any cause. For example, the Constitution does provide for the election of a person to preside over the Senate in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor in article 8, section 3. This section reads as follows: Presiding officer in absence of lieutenant governor.  If by reason of death, resignation, absence, or other cause, the lieutenant governor is not present, to preside in the senate, the senate shall elect one of its own members to preside during such absence or vacancy; and until such election is made by the senate, the secretary of state shall preside. The presiding officer of the senate shall preside in grand committee and in joint assembly. The Constitution also provides in article 9, section 10, that in the event of a vacancy in both the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall in like manner fill the office of governor during such vacancy. The amici House and Senate also contend that historical precedents under both the Charter of King Charles II of 1663 and the prior Constitution of 1843 militate against the propriety of a gubernatorial appointment of a person to fill a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor. [1] We confirm our observation contained in Kass v. Retirement Board of the Employees' Retirement System, 567 A.2d 358, 360 (R.I.1989), that `a page of history is worth a volume of logic' in determining the extent of state as well as federal constitutional limitations, quoting Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in New York Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963, 983 (1921). Nevertheless, we also adhere to the proposition that when a constitutional provision is clear and unambiguous, we must accord its provisions their plain and ordinary meaning, City of Pawtucket v. Sundlun, 662 A.2d 40, 45 (R.I.1995); In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 612 A.2d 1, 7 (R.I.1992), and no word or section must be assumed to have been unnecessarily used or needlessly added. Kennedy v. Cumberland Engineering Co., 471 A.2d 195, 198 (R.I.1984). Historical anecdotal occurrences cannot overcome a clear and unambiguous grant of constitutional power. We also agree, as we set forth in Kass, that historically the power of the General Assembly has been plenary and unlimited, save as this authority may have been limited by the Constitution of the United States and/or the Constitution of the State of Rhode Island. 567 A.2d at 360. Unlike the United States Congress, the Rhode Island General Assembly does not look to our State Constitution for grants of power. In re Advisory Opinion to the House of Representatives, 485 A.2d 550, 553 (R.I.1984); Payne & Butler v. Providence Gas Co., 31 R.I. 295, 316, 77 A. 145, 154 (1910). Accordingly, this court has consistently adhered to the view that the General Assembly possessed `all of the powers inhering in sovereignty other than those which the constitution textually commits to the other branches of our state government and that those that are not so committed    are powers reserved to the general assembly.' Kass, 567 A.2d at 361 (quoting Nugent v. City of East Providence, 103 R.I. 518, 525-26, 238 A.2d 758, 762 (1968)). In answering the question propounded by the Governor, we must look to the text of article 9, section 5, to determine whether that provision of our Constitution endows the Governor with the power to fill a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor. We believe that it does in clear and unambiguous terms. Although article 8, section 3, of the Constitution provides for the performance of functions by others [i]f by reason of death, resignation, absence, or other cause, the lieutenant governor is not present, no provision purports to deal with the filling of a vacancy in that office save the general provisions of article 9, section 5. Consequently this section is controlling. In answering the question propounded by Your Excellency, the justices of this court do not purport to comment upon policy questions relating to the desirability or the necessity of filling a vacancy in this general office but only respond to the question concerning the power of the Governor to do so. We are of the opinion that article 9, section 5, allows the Governor to fill any vacancy that is not otherwise provided for by the Constitution or by law. Given the plenary authority of the General Assembly, we have little doubt that it could have enacted a statute providing for the filling of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor as has been suggested by the Attorney General in his brief. We find no express prohibition in the Constitution withholding such power, nor is it forbidden by necessary implication. [2] Nevertheless, the General Assembly has not enacted such a statute, and therefore, the Governor's power to appoint is clearly authorized by article 9, section 5, of the Constitution.