Court Opinion

ID: 9703256
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:47:35.52278+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:46.838053
License: Public Domain

DUNN, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur with the decision reached by the majority that the writs be quashed, and I agree that Senate Bill 225 cannot be upheld under the police powers. This was not seriously urged by the State.
*760I am also in agreement that the “necessity” and the “immediacy” of this legislation were determinations to be made by. the Legislature on the basis of the substantial evidence before that body. State ex rel. Kornmann v. Larson, 81 S.D. 540, 138 N.W.2d 1 (1965).
This leaves the issue of whether Senate Bill 225 was for the support of state government and its existing institutions. Rather than base my decision on any one or any combination of statutes set out in the majority opinion as indicating that Senate Bill 225 is providing funding for an existing institution of state government, I would prefer to decide this case on the basis that the Constitution and the various statutes enumerated lead to one conclusion: South Dakota is committed to furnishing an adequate public transportation system for its people and its goods.
The highway system of this state was structured with the knowledge that we had at least two viable railroads traversing the state to carry a majority of the heavy freight. When one or both of these railroads cease to exist, it is not just a rail problem but a highway problem as well, and more important, it is a general problem of furnishing public transportation for the people and goods of South Dakota.
Senate Bill 225 was enacted to provide revenue to retire the bonds used to acquire, maintain and improve railroad rights-of-way and facilities appurtenant thereto. This appropriation was not to purchase rolling stock or to operate a railroad. Whether this right-of-way acquired is eventually used to rehabilitate the rails for leasing to some existing railroad or to build another highway for the additional trucks that will be necessary if the railroads cease to exist is unimportant. It remains an appropriation for the long-recognized institution of state government to fulfill the commitment of funding a public transportation system.