Opinion ID: 2630973
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Subsequent Amendment as a Bar to an Article II, Section 19 Challenge

Text: ¶ 7 Appellant claims that the trial court's grant of summary judgment should be reversed because Respondents' constitutional claim is prohibited due to multiple, subsequent amendments to the statutory provision at issue. Respondents contend that the subsequent amendments to RCW 49.46. 010 did not cure its constitutional defect. The trial court reached the merits of Respondents' article II, section 19 challenge and determined that I-518's ballot title violated the subject in title rule. We hold that the subsequent amendments to RCW 49.46.010 cured any alleged defect in the title of I-518. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Respondents. ¶ 8 In Pierce County, 159 Wash.2d at 39-41, 148 P.3d 1002, this court indicated that when a statute is challenged on the basis that its title violates article II, section 19, a later amendment to or reenactment of the statute supersedes and therefore cure[s] any defect in the earlier legislation. The statutory provision at issue in the present case, RCW 49.46.010, was amended to eliminate the exception to the MWA for domestic service providers in 1989 pursuant to I-518. See LAWS of 1989, ch. 1, § 1. Since that time, the legislature has amended RCW 49.46.010 at least three times. See LAWS of 1993, ch. 281, § 56; LAWS of 1997, ch. 203, § 3; LAWS of 2002, ch. 354, § 231. As part of each amendment, the legislature has maintained the casual labor exclusion under RCW 49.46.010(5)(b), which replaced the domestic service providers exception, pursuant to I-518. Under Pierce County, 159 Wash.2d at 41, 148 P.3d 1002, these amendments to RCW 49.46.010 cured any defects in the 1989 amendment process. [12] See also Eugster v. City of Spokane, 110 Wash.App. 212, 228-29, 39 P.3d 380 (2002) (challenge to city council's improper adoption of employment selection process under chapter 42.30 RCW (Open Public Meetings Act) barred by subsequent, proper adoption of a rule codifying the new process); Henry v. Town of Oakville, 30 Wash.App. 240, 246-47, 633 P.2d 892 (1981) (challenge to ordinance on grounds of improper enactment under the Open Public Meetings Act barred by subsequent, proper reenactment of said ordinance). ¶ 9 Respondents contend that the principle articulated in Pierce County  that an improper legislative act may be cured by subsequent proper amendment or reenactment  can never be applied to bar an article II, section 19 challenge because such challenges are substantive rather than procedural. However, this assertion is directly at odds with the language of this court's Pierce County opinion, which explicitly discussed the principle of cure by subsequent amendment as applied to an article II, section 19 challenge. 159 Wash.2d at 39-41, 148 P.3d 1002. Moreover, in Pierce County, this court expressly acknowledged the procedural nature of article II, section 19 challenges when it described the applicable rule of law as follows: `[W]here a governing body takes an otherwise proper action later invalidated for procedural reasons only, that body may retrace its steps and remedy the defects by reenactment with the proper formalities.' 159 Wash.2d at 40, 148 P.3d 1002 (emphasis added) (quoting Henry, 30 Wash.App. at 246-47, 633 P.2d 892). This court made a similar reference in Washington Federation of State Employees v. State, 127 Wash.2d 544, 556, 901 P.2d 1028 (1995), describing an article II, section 19 challenge as an issue that relates to constitutional form and legislative procedure. In sum, Respondents attempt to distinguish Pierce County on this ground of procedural versus substantive challenges is unpersuasive. ¶ 10 Respondents additionally assert that our decision in Pierce County is not dispositive because no subsequent reenactment of Washington's Minimum Wage Act has occurred to cure the constitutional defect underlying RCW 49.46.010(5)(b). Answer to Amicus at 11. Specifically, they argue that because the subsequent amendments to RCW 49.46.010 did not specifically alter the text of subsection (5)(b), which was modified by I-518, they are insufficient to cure I-518's alleged constitutional defect. This argument for distinguishing Pierce County also fails in light of a careful examination of the subsequent amendment at issue therein. ¶ 11 The allegedly defective 1993 law at issue in Pierce County eliminated language in former RCW 81.112.030 (1992) referencing a requirement that the public vote on ratification of the formation of a regional transit authority. See LAWS of 1993, 1 st Spec. Sess., ch. 23, § 62. In 1994, the legislature further amended this provision, leaving out the reference to public voting on ratification that was previously eliminated in 1993. See LAWS of 1994 ch. 44, § 1. This court held that the alleged title defect of the 1993 law was cured by the passage of the 1994 amendment, which was presumed to be properly titled. Pierce County, 159 Wash.2d at 40-41, 148 P.3d 1002. Here, Respondents allege that I518 improperly eliminated from RCW 49.46.010 the exemption to the MWA for domestic service providers. However, in 1993 the legislature amended RCW 49.46.010, leaving out the same language as was eliminated under I518. There is no allegation or indication that the 1993 law was improperly titled. Thus, contrary to the suggestion of Respondents, there has been a subsequent amendment to RCW 49.46.010 analogous to that deemed curative in Pierce County. [13] ¶ 12 In sum, Respondents offer no valid basis for distinguishing Pierce County. In accordance with this court's decision in that case, we hold that the challenge to I-518 is precluded by subsequent amendments to RCW 49.46.010.