Opinion ID: 6472358
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Effectiveness of the 2001 Version of Section 1-14-15(B)

Text: {48} Because the 2005 amendment is unconstitutional, the 2001 version of Section 1-14^15(B) is still in effect. The Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act allows the remainder of a statute to be effective in cases where provisions in that statute are held invalid. NMSA 1978, § 12-2A-9 (1997). The question is whether the 2001 version of Section 1-14-15(B) is severable from the 2005 amendment. The test to determine the severability of an invalid section from the rest of the statute is settled. It is well established in this jurisdiction that a part of a law may be invalid and the remainder valid, where the invalid part may be separated from the other portions, without impairing the force and effect of the remaining parts, and if the legislative purpose as expressed in the valid portion can be given force and effect, without the invalid part, and, when considering the entire act it cannot be said that the legislature would not have passed the remaining part if it had known that the objectionable part was invalid. Baca, 2002-NMSC-017, ¶ 8, 132 N.M. 282, 47 P.3d 441 (quoted authority omitted). {49} Addressing the first prong, we note the remainder of Section 1-14-15(B) (2005) is identical to Section 1-14-15(B) (2001). The 2001 version of Section 1 — 14— 15(B) was effective, independent of the 2005 amendment, for four years. See 2001 N.M. Laws, ch. 109, § 1. We address the second prong by acknowledging another section of the Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act, which reads, “[a] statute or rule that is revised, whether by amendment or by repeal and reenactment, is a continuation of the previous statute or rule and not a new enactment to the extent that it contains substantially the same language as the previous statute or rule.” NMSA 1978, § 12-2A-14 (1979). Because the 2005 amendment added only one sentence to the original version of the statute, under the Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act, the remainder of Section 1-14-15(B) (2005) can be given the same effect as the 2001 version of the statute. With respect to the third prong, again noting that the 2005 amendment to Section 1-14-15(B) added only one sentence to the 2001 version of the statute, we infer the Legislature would choose to have the remainder of the Section 1-14-15 continue to be effective. Therefore, the 2001 version of Section 1-1A-15(B) is still effective because its text and meaning remain substantively unaffected by both the 2005 amendment and our subsequent striking of the amendment on the basis of unconstitutionality. {50} We now turn to whether the State Canvassing Board had the authority, under the 2001 version of Section 1-14-15(B), to condition the recount and recheck on advance payment of the entire estimated cost of the procedure.