Court Opinion

ID: 9573031
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:46:55.420175+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:36:05.067809
License: Public Domain

Justice VOLLACK
specially concurring in the result only:
I concur in the result of the majority opinion only. In my view, it is unnecessary at this juncture to delve into the detailed analysis on the speech-or-debate clause of the Colorado Constitution presented by the parties and addressed in the majority opinion. I agree that it is appropriate to dismiss the Governor’s action seeking a declaration as to the constitutionality of the footnotes and headnotes incorporated into the 1989-90 appropriations bill, but not on the basis that the legislators are immune from suit. Instead, it is my opinion that the Governor’s action should be dismissed because the issue is now moot. The action involves a request for declaratory relief concerning the 1989-90 appropriations bill for the payment of the expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the state of Colorado, and of its agencies and institutions, for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 1989. The money allocated pursuant to that bill has long since been disbursed. I therefore would not address the limits of the speech-or-debate clause when a decision by this court on the constitutionality of the particular footnotes and headnotes should be limited to whether the Governor’s veto was valid.
I agree with the majority’s holding that the Governor’s veto must be presumed valid, absent a proper legislative override or judicial declaration to the contrary. The focus of the Governor’s request for declaratory relief is on his executive power and whether an infringement of that power has occurred. In my view, part III of the majority’s opinion adequately disposes of the issue, and the speech-or-debate-clause analysis contained in part 11(D) is unnecessary. It is sufficient to say that the legislature failed to respond properly to the Governor’s veto, either by attempting to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote, or by filing an action in court to contest the validity of the Governor’s veto. See Colo.Const, art. IV, §§ 11-12. Absent a legislative override conducted pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Colorado Constitution, or a judicial declaration of invalidity, the Governor’s vetoes must be presumed valid.
I do not view the issue of the validity of the Governor’s veto moot because the enactment of the appropriations bill is an annual process and is therefore “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” Colorado-Ute Elec. Ass’n v. Public Utils. Comm’n, 760 P.2d 627, 633 (Colo.1988). Not only is this particular dispute between the Governor and the legislature capable of recurring, it also involves a question of public importance and concerns the constitutional rights of the Governor to exercise his veto power. See Parker v. People ex rel. Woods, 135 Colo. 206, 208, 309 P.2d 605, 605 (1957). Thus, a decision by this court on the validity of the Governor’s veto should issue.