Opinion ID: 1929151
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the retroactivity of article 46

Text: It is undisputed that the department, in determining eligibility, counted months prior to July 1, 1992 to determine whether a GPA recipient had already received benefits for the maximum six months out of a twelve-month period. The Superior Court held that the department erred in counting months prior to the effective date of the statute. With this holding we agree. As a general rule statutes operate prospectively from and after the effective date of the statute. It is only in the event that a statute contains clear and explicit language requiring retroactive application that a statute will be interpreted to operate retrospectively. Lawrence v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 523 A.2d 864, 869 (R.I. 1987); Cipriano v. Personnel Appeal Board, 114 R.I. 141, 330 A.2d 71 (1975). The budget statute in issue provided that [t]his article shall take effect on July 1, 1992. P.L. 1992, ch. 133, art. 46, § 5. In the absence of any other language in the article that indicated a legislative intent to operate retroactively, we are constrained to hold that the Legislature intended this article to be effective prospectively. Obviously the counting of months prior to the effective date of the statute toward the six-month eligibility limit would give the statute a retroactive effect. It is unnecessary for us to consider on this record whether the Legislature would have had the power to modify these standards retroactively. See Brennan v. Kirby, 529 A.2d 633, 639 (R.I. 1987). There is no indication in the language of the statute that any such retroactive effect was intended. The attempt on the part of the department to suggest that fiscal constraints made retroactivity essential cannot be considered under the heading of legislative history unless the statute itself contains an ambiguity. We find no such ambiguity in this statute to support a retroactive interpretation. Consequently the trial justice did not err in holding that the department erroneously counted months prior to the effective date of the statute. For the reasons stated, we are of the opinion that the Superior Court did not err in its findings of fact and conclusions of law relating to the inadequacy of general notice of the new standards of eligibility under article 46, the inadequacy of individualized notices of termination given to recipients, and the consequent inadequacy of hearings held pursuant to such inadequate notices. Therefore, the department's appeal is denied and dismissed. The judgment entered in the Superior Court is hereby affirmed. Any partial stay heretofore issued by this court of said judgment is hereby dissolved. The papers in the case may be remanded to the Superior Court.