Opinion ID: 1189720
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The statute's history

Text: The timing of this statute's adoption tells little about the legislature's intent. The legislation that became § 23-930 was first introduced in February 1987, over a year after the Franks opinion was filed and several months before Boy. Thus, there is no clear indication from its timing that the legislature adopted the statute in response to either of these opinions. We next examine the statute's journey through the legislature. Divining Congress' intent by examining legislative history has been derided by Justice Scalia as the equivalent of entering a crowded cocktail party and looking over the heads of the guests for one's friends. Conroy v. Aniskoff, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 1562, 1567, 123 L.Ed.2d 229 (1993) (Scalia, J., concurring). Nevertheless, when a statute's meaning is disputed, we believe it is important, though not always dispositive, to review the statute's legislative history to find, if possible, any shared legislative understanding of the relevant language. Cf. Carrow Co. v. Lusby, 167 Ariz. 18, 20, 804 P.2d 747, 749 (1990) (Legislative intent can often be discovered by examining the development of a particular statute.). In this case, however, the history of § 23-930 discloses few recognizable faces, friendly or otherwise, in the legislative crowd. This statute was first introduced as House Bill 2281 on February 4, 1987 but was not enacted until the third special session in July of that year. We have found nothing in the records of the third special session [5] that indicates any intent, express or implied, to overrule Boy or Franks. The records do not mention or even allude to these cases. Nor is there any discussion of the meaning of the exclusive jurisdiction granted to the Commission, although an amendment striking the word exclusive was defeated on a tie vote in the House Commerce Committee. [6] Moreover, the governor's address to the legislature merely refers to the bill as establishing a system to resolve complaints involving unfair claim processing practices. [7] We have also examined the records of the first regular session of 1987, in which this bill was first introduced but not passed. We find them similarly cryptic. The only discussion that related directly to the statute's jurisdictional language was by two private attorneys who addressed a legislative committee. One attorney, who opposed the bill, argued that it would overrule Franks and divest courts of jurisdiction. [8] The other, who favored the bill, said it would prevent complaints from being filed with both the Commission and the courts. [9] These comments, it must be noted, were made at a session in which the bill failed to pass. When seeking to ascertain the intent of legislators, courts normally give little or no weight to comments made at committee hearings by nonlegislators. Norman J. Singer, SUTHERLAND STATUTES AND STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION § 48.10 (5th ed. 1992) (hereinafter SUTHERLAND); see also Kelly v. Robinson, 479 U.S. 36, 51 n. 13, 107 S.Ct. 353, 362 n. 13, 93 L.Ed.2d 216 (1986) (nonlegislators' testimony in congressional hearings accorded no significance); Savings & Loan League of Connecticut v. Connecticut Hous. Fin. Auth., 184 Conn. 311, 439 A.2d 978, 980 n. 1 (1981) (statements at public hearings by nonlegislators are inadmissible and may not be considered for purposes of statutory interpretation); Henthorn v. Grand Prairie Sch. Dist., 287 Or. 683, 601 P.2d 1243, 1247 n. 5 (1979) (statements before legislative committees by persons not members of the legislature may have little or no significance). Cf. Estate of Hernandez, 177 Ariz. at 250-51, 866 P.2d at 1336-37, in which nonlegislators' comments were cited to show only that a particular subject was not under consideration. In contrast, a nonlegislator's comments about a statute's effect are far less useful for indicating what the legislature intended because the legislators may have disagreed with the speaker's analysis. [10] We believe the best policy is not to consider nonlegislators' statements to determine the legislature's intent concerning the specific application of a proposed statute, unless the circumstances provide sufficient guarantees that the statements reflect legislators' views. See Allison C. Giles, Comment, The Value of Nonlegislators' Contributions to Legislative Committee, 79 GEO.L.J. 359 (1990); Note, Nonlegislative Intent as an Aid to Statutory Interpretation, 49 COLUM.L.REV. 676 (1949). We find no such guarantees in the present case. In summary, we find nothing expressing any legislator's intent, let alone any general legislative consensus on this provision's meaning. Moreover, the absence of explicit preemptive language may indicate an intent not to preempt, especially when the legislature is well aware of the words of art that should be used to accomplish such a result. See Goulder v. Arizona Dept. of Transp., 177 Ariz. 414, 416-417, 868 P.2d 997, 999-1000 (Ct.App. 1993). Thus, this statute's legislative history provides no dispositive interpretation of the language in question.