Court Opinion

ID: 9787285
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:14:16.263567+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:54.259573
License: Public Domain

IRVINE, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
¶ 41 I agree with much of the majority’s decision. I agree that the Legislature is entitled to absolute immunity for its appropriation decisions. I disagree, however, with the majority’s conclusion regarding the claim for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Board of Regents. The complaint fails to allege facts sufficient to show that the Board has exceeded the broad discretion given to it to set tuition “as nearly free as possible.” Therefore, the complaint was properly dismissed.5
¶ 42 The root of the majority’s decision is its reluctance to find that a provision of the Arizona Constitution can never be judicially enforced. I share this concern and agree that there may be a time when the Board has so plainly disregarded the direction of the constitution that judicial intervention is warranted. When that time will be, or what actions of the Board will trigger such intervention, are not, however, issues raised in this case.
¶ 43 The constitutional provision at issue here gives the Board, acting under the authority of laws passed by the Legislature, enormous discretion in setting tuition. To the extent “nearly free” and “as possible” impose obligations on the Board, they plainly do not establish any specific limits on the level of tuition to be charged. The language implicitly recognizes that setting tuition involves balancing considerations beyond the financial impact on students, such as the revenues, expenses, and goals of the universities. It is inevitable that there will be disagreement regarding these considerations and the law leaves it to the Board to set the balance. As a result, setting tuition becomes a political question that is not suitable for judicial resolution. See The Forty-Seventh Legislature v. Napolitano, 213 Ariz. 482, 143 P.3d 1023, 486 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, ¶ 7, (Sept. 12, 2006) (“ ‘Political questions,’ broadly defined, involve decisions that the constitution commits to one of the political branches of government and raise issues not susceptible to judicial resolution according to discoverable and manageable standards.”). Because the Board is given this broad discretion, it is not enough for someone who disagrees and files a lawsuit to simply allege a violation of the constitution. Unless facts are adequately alleged in the complaint showing that the Board has acted outside the scope of its discretion, the Board should not be required to justify its budgetary decisions in court.
¶ 44 The students in this case allege that the Board acted wrongfully in several ways. First, the Board increased tuition to unaffordable levels. Second, the increases were approved with no financial analysis and based on arbitrary dollar requests from the university presidents. Third, the tuition increase was justified as necessary to pay off debt for construction, and such use of tuition funds is not appropriate. Fourth, higher tuition will be used to fund need-based financial aid.
¶ 45 The students do not argue that any of these acts standing alone is unlawful. In effect, they recognize that no law requires *617detailed financial analysis,6 and the Board may choose to increase tuition, pay off debt, and fund financial aid. The students argue instead that these acts violate the constitutional mandate that university education be “as nearly free as possible.” They never articulate how high tuition should be, what would be an appropriate use of tuition revenues, or how a court is to go about determining the appropriate level of tuition.
¶ 46 The Arizona Supreme Court rejected similar arguments in Sullivan. 45 Ariz. at 263, 42 P.2d at 626. The legislation at issue in that case authorized the Board to incur debt to fund construction and pledge revenue, including fees and other charges, to secure the debt. As the majority notes, Sullivan expressly held that a university education need not be free. Id. The supreme court also implicitly rejected the argument that charging fees to pay debt violated the requirement that instruction be “as nearly free as possible.” See id. The court did not require further factual development or litigation; it simply ruled that there was no violation under the facts alleged. The same result is required here. The fact that some of a tuition increase is used to pay for construction debt or provide for financial aid for others is simply inadequate to support a claim that the Board has exceeded its discretion.
¶ 47 It is unfortunate, but not surprising, that higher tuition makes it more difficult for some students to afford university instruction. Nevertheless, once it is acknowledged that tuition may be charged, a conclusion required by the holding in Sullivan, merely alleging that a tuition increase makes a university education less affordable is not enough to raise a constitutional question. In Carpio, 111 Ariz. at 128-29, 524 P.2d at 949-50, the supreme court held that Article 11, Section 6 of the Arizona Constitution does not require high schools to supply free instruction and textbooks to indigent students, “although they could be if the Legislature in its discretion saw fit to do so.” If the discretion encompassed by “as nearly free as possible” includes not supplying instruction and textbooks to indigent students, it must necessarily include the Board’s decision to increase tuition, even if doing so reduces the affordability of instruction for some students.
¶ 48 The majority concludes that the students’ allegation that the tuition increases “have led to increasingly unaffordable tuition levels” adequately raises a constitutional question because Sullivan stated the test is whether the fees are “excessive or other than reasonable.” What Sullivan actually said was that there was no suggestion in that case “that the fees, rentals, etc., are excessive or other than reasonable, or are not as nearly free as possible.” 45 Ariz. at 263, 42 P.2d at 626. I do not read Sullivan as substituting an “excessive or other than reasonable” standard for the express words of the constitution. The words “excessive” and “reasonable” imply that there is some level of tuition that a court may objectively find to be correct. Given that setting tuition is a political question, I do not believe this to be the case.
¶ 49 In setting tuition the Board must make subjective, policy choices that are not readily subject to judicial review. Money is fungible, so an inquiry into the “reasonable” level of tuition will necessarily require a broad inquiry into the finances of the universities. Arguments will no doubt be made that tuition increases can be avoided, or even that tuition can be reduced, if expenses and costs are reduced. Questions will arise such as whether it is reasonable to open a new campus, start a new program, increase research funds, or give a raise to university presidents. These are not questions that a court is qualified to answer. Yet this is what the trial court will be asked to do if this case is remanded for further litigation.
¶ 50 The degree of discretion granted by the constitution to the Legislature and Board over university finances distinguishes this case from other cases in which declaratory and injunctive relief claims have been entertained. See Bishop, 179 Ariz. 233, 877 P.2d *618806 (“uniformity” provided an objective standard against which the courts could measure any plan developed by the Legislature); Harper, 108 Ariz. at 225, 495 P.2d at 455 (issue was not whether the Board exceeded its discretion, but whether the constitutional provisions barred discrimination); Carpio, 111 Ariz. at 128-29, 524 P.2d at 949-50 (concluding that “the words ‘as nearly free as possible’ do not require that either [instruction or textbooks] be provided without charge although they could be if the Legislature in its discretion saw fit to do so”). In Zeigler, the primary case relied upon by the students and the majority, the plaintiffs argued the agency’s requirements violated specific statutes and were “beyond the director’s power to adopt or enforce.” 162 Ariz. at 84, 781 P.2d at 61. Here, in contrast, it cannot be disputed that the Board has the power to set and increase tuition.
¶ 51 As I stated above, there may someday be a case in which a plaintiff can allege facts sufficient to raise a colorable claim that there has been a violation of the constitutional requirement that instruction be “as nearly free as possible.” The claim may be that students are required to pay 100% of their education costs, or that Arizona’s university tuition is among the top of comparable universities. In any event, the facts alleged must go beyond a bare allegation that the Arizona Constitution has been violated. The allegations must contain facts that, if proven, would establish that the Board has exceeded its broad discretion to set tuition. Without such plain allegations, the complaint merely asks us to second-guess a political decision that is not ours to make.
¶ 52 In this case, the complaint fails to support a conclusion that the Board has exceeded its discretion. Therefore, Plaintiffs failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and the trial court properly dismissed the complaint.

. Although the issue framed by the parties is whether absolute immunity applies, appellate courts will "affirm where any reasonable view of the facts and law might support the judgment of the trial court.” City of Phoenix v. Geyler, 144 Ariz. 323, 330, 697 P.2d 1073, 1080 (1985). The majority recognizes this by addressing whether the students have alleged a claim. See supra ¶ 39.

. The Board is required by law to follow certain procedures in setting tuition. A.R.S. § 15— 1626(A)(5). The trial court found that the students “do not challenge the process whereby the decisions were made to increase the tuition or fund the universities; they challenge the outcome.”