Court Opinion

ID: 9524797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:57:18.630585+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:11:58.187565
License: Public Domain

FRANK, J.,
dissenting.
Because the majority opinion assumes the constitutionality of House Bill 2816 (HB 2316) and then interprets HB 2316 to preclude judicial review under the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA), I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the order of the trial court dismissing appellants’ claims for lack of standing, and remand to the trial court with instructions to remand this case to the Commissioner to determine whether HB 2316 is unconstitutional special legislation.

BACKGROUND

Medical Facilities of America, Inc. (MFA) is a Virginia corporation that has an ownership interest in and/or manages at least 30 nursing homes in Virginia. MFA plays some role in the ownership and operation of the three nursing homes at issue in this appeal: Warsaw Healthcare Center (Warsaw HCC), located in Planning District 17, Hanover Healthcare Center (Hanover HCC), located in Planning District 15, and Beaufont Healthcare Center (Beaufont HCC), located in Planning District 15.
Warsaw HCC has housed 180 licensed nursing home beds in Warsaw, Virginia, since 1985. Citing the weak financial per*602formance of Warsaw HCC,7 MFA sought to transfer 60 of the beds at Warsaw HCC to Hanover HCC and 60 of the beds to Beaufont HCC, both in a different planning district.
Code §§ 32.1-102.1 to 32.1-102.13 detail the requirements and procedures for obtaining a COPN for medical care facilities. Code § 32.1-102.3 provides, in part:
No person shall commence any project8 without first obtaining a certificate issued by the Commissioner. No certificate may be issued unless the Commissioner has determined that a public need for the project has been demonstrated.... Any decision to issue or approve the issuance of a certificate shall be consistent with the most recent applicable provisions of the State Medical Facilities Plan....
(Footnote added).
The statute then lists twenty factors that “the Commissioner shall consider” when determining “whether a public need for a project has been demonstrated.” Code § 32.1-102.3(B). Those factors include the recommendation of the relevant health planning agency, the “need that the population served or to be served by the project has for the project,” “the relationship of the project to the existing health care system of the area in which the project is proposed,” and “the efficiency and appropriateness of the use of existing services and facilities in the area similar to those proposed.” Code § 32.1-102.3(B).
*603For applications for a COPN to increase the number of nursing home beds in a planning district, Code § 32.1-102.3:2 requires the Commissioner to “approve, authorize or accept” only those applications that “are filed in response to Requests for Applications (RFAs).”
Further, Code § 32.1-102.6 sets out administrative procedures that govern the filing and review of any application for a COPN. Those administrative procedures require the regional health planning agency to review each application for a COPN and to hold a public hearing on each application for a COPN. Both the regional health planning agency and the Department of Health’s Division of Certificate of Public Need (DCOPN) review the applications and provide recommendations to the Commissioner. In addition, Code § 32.1-102.6 provides a process for a person to seek and obtain “good cause standing” 9 as a party to the case and, after obtaining such status, to request an informal fact-finding conference (IFFC) to be convened. This IFFC allows all of the parties involved to provide additional information for the Commissioner to consider when determining whether to approve the application for a COPN. The regional health planning agency or DCOPN can also request an IFFC.
In the 2005 legislative session, the Virginia legislature passed HB 2316, which provides:
A. Notwithstanding (i) the provisions of §§ 32.1-102.3 and 32.1-102.3:2, (ii) any regulations of the Board of Health establishing standards for the approval and issuance of Requests for Applications, or (iii) the provisions of any current Requests for Applications issued by the Commissioner of Health pursuant to § 32.1-102.3:2, the Commis*604sioner of Health shall accept applications and may issue certificates of public need for nursing home beds when such beds are a relocation from one facility to another facility or facilities under common ownership or control, regardless of whether they are in the same planning district, if, as of December 31 of the year preceding the year in which relocation is proposed, the following criteria are met:
1. The occupancy rate of the facility seeking to relocate beds, based upon the total number of beds for which the facility is licensed, was less than 67 percent;
2. Greater than 25 percent of the residents of the facility from which beds are to be relocated, immediately prior to moving the facility, resided outside the planning district in which the facility is located;
3. More than 10 percent of the nursing hours of the facility from which beds are to be relocated were performed by temporary agency staffing; and
4. Any facility to which beds are to be relocated has experienced an average occupancy rate that meets or exceeds 90 percent.
B. A relocation of nursing home beds under the circumstances described herein shall not constitute a “project” as defined in § 32.1-102.1. An entity may not relocate more than two-thirds of the total number of beds for which the facility was licensed prior to any relocation pursuant to this section. Any restrictions that apply to the certificate at the time of the relocation shall remain in effect following the relocation.
On August 8, 2005, in response to this legislation, DCOPN promulgated special procedures and time frames “for processing a request for relocation of nursing home beds under the provisions of HB 2316.” DCOPN interpreted HB 2316 to require a “simplified and abbreviated process for handling such requests.” Further, DCOPN noted that HB 2316 “directs” the Commissioner to “take certain actions notwithstanding the statutory criteria for determining need” and “notwithstanding the administrative procedures that apply to review of projects.” (Emphasis in original).
*605Essentially, the special procedures provided that the Commissioner would review an application pursuant to HB 2816 to determine only (1) whether it met the classification criteria set out in the legislation, and (2) that “it is not likely to result in significant harm to affected nursing home residents or to other citizens of the Commonwealth.” The procedures then set forth an abbreviated time frame for reviewing the applications, and specified that an IFFC would occur only if it “is required as a result of the recommendation of the Department of Health staff.” The only role for the regional health planning agency was an opportunity “to review an HB 2316 request and provide its comments to the Commissioner,” but the procedures did not provide for a public hearing or for the regional health planning agency to request an IFFC. Further, the procedures did not provide for any other person to apply for good cause standing, or to request an IFFC.
On September 20, 2005, MFA applied for a COPN, pursuant to HB 2316, to transfer 60 nursing home beds from Warsaw HCC to Beaufont HCC (the Beaufont application). On October 7, 2005, MFA applied for a COPN, pursuant to HB 2316, to transfer 60 nursing home beds from Warsaw HCC to Hanover HCC (the Hanover application). If approved, Warsaw HCC would be left with no nursing home beds.10
On October 25, 2005, the Central Virginia Health Planning Agency (CVHPA) held a public hearing, contrary to the procedures outlined by DCOPN.11 MFA contended that the statute did not provide for a public hearing, or for a recom*606mendation from CVHPA, but participated in the hearing as a courtesy to the agency. CVHPA received seven letters of opposition to the transfers of beds, three from family members of residents at Warsaw HCC, one from the administrator of the hospital located near Warsaw HCC, and three from nursing home facilities located in Planning District 15.
Based on this “significant provider and consumer opposition,” and their review of the application under the twenty factors in Code § 32.1-102.3(B), CVHPA recommended the Commissioner deny both applications submitted by MFA. Specifically, CVHPA noted that the transfer of these beds into Planning District 15 violated provisions of the State Medical Facilities Plan, creating an unnecessary and harmful surplus of nursing home beds in Planning District 15 and a deficiency of nursing home beds in Planning District 17. The surplus of beds would negatively impact occupancy rates and the financial viability of existing nursing homes, while the deficiency of beds would have “a negative impact on the economic viability of area hospitals.” Additionally, CVHPA pointed to alternatives to the transfer of beds that would diminish the negative consequences for both Warsaw HCC’s service area and Planning District 15.
On November 18, 2005, CVHPA requested that the Commissioner convene an IFFC regarding MFA’s applications. The Commissioner responded that, because applications under HB 2316 are not “projects” for purposes of the COPN administrative process, “no IFFC is required.”
DCOPN released its review and recommendations on November 14, 2005, regarding the Hanover application, and on November 30, 2005, regarding the Beaufont application. For many of the same reasons cited by CVHPA, DCOPN determined that neither application had “a great deal of overall merit” when considered alone and that DCOPN would not normally recommend approval. Moreover, when both applica*607tions were considered together, DCOPN determined that approval of both applications “would very likely cause serious and long-lasting harm to the nursing home services capability of [Planning District] 17 and [Planning Districts] 17 and 18 combined, and would likely cause undue, though probably relatively modest harm to some or perhaps many nursing home providers in [Planning District] 15.” However, DCOPN recommended approval of the applications solely because the applications met the criteria set out in HB 2316, and because DCOPN believed that the design of HB 2316 did not permit consideration of the merit of the applications on any other criteria.12
Appellants filed separate petitions for good cause standing with the Commissioner in the consideration of MFA’s applications for COPNs, each requesting party status in the case. Appellants also asked the Commissioner to convene an IFFC to consider the lawfulness of the applications under HB 2316, even if DCOPN recommended approval of the applications, and argued that HB 2316 constituted unconstitutional special legislation. In response, the Commissioner stated that, “[inasmuch as HB 2316 expressly removes any proposed relocation submitted pursuant to it from the category of those things that are projects, your attempt to petition to show good cause in relation to the proposed relocation cannot be accepted.”
On December 15, 2005, the Commissioner approved the Hanover application for a COPN to transfer 60 beds from Warsaw HCC, stating, “I have concluded that approval of the request is warranted, based on the following finding: The application meets each of the criteria for its acceptance and possible approval that are set forth by HB 2316 of the 2005 General Assembly.” On December 19, 2005, the Commissioner approved the Beaufont application for a COPN to transfer 60 beds from Warsaw HCC on identical grounds.
*608Appellants filed petitions for appeal in the trial court,13 arguing that: the Commissioner erred in failing to hold hearings on the applications, the Commissioner erred in denying appellants’ good cause petitions, the Commissioner erred in approving the applications where DCOPN and CVHPA found that the applications were without merit and were harmful to the public interest, and the Commissioner erred by giving effect to unconstitutional special legislation.
MFA and the Virginia Department of Health filed motions to dismiss appellants’ petitions, arguing that, as appellants were not named parties to the proceedings before the Commissioner and were not “parties aggrieved” under the VAPA, appellants lacked standing to bring the appeals.
The trial court, after hearing oral argument, granted the motions to dismiss appellants’ petitions for appeal. The trial court determined that, based on its reading of HB 2316, “the procedural mandates of § 32.1-102, et. seq. do not apply.” Appellants’ only avenue for appeal, the trial court reasoned, was through the VAPA. The trial court ruled that appellants lacked standing to appeal under the VAPA, as “the correspondence of the Commissioner are not ‘case decisions’ ” and, further, appellants were neither “necessary parties to the proceeding” nor “ ‘aggrieved parties’ to the ‘case decision.’ ” The trial court did not address the constitutionality of HB 2316.

ANALYSIS

Appellants contend that the trial court erred in dismissing their petitions for appeal for lack of standing under the VAPA. *609Appellants argue that, because HB 2316 is unconstitutional special legislation, it cannot operate to remove entirely the normal administrative review process for COPN applications embodied in Code §§ 32.1-102.1 to 32.1-102.13.14
On appeal of an agency’s determination on issues of law, the standard of review to be applied on appeal depends on the nature of the issue before the agency. “ ‘If the issue falls outside the area generally entrusted to the agency, and is one in which the courts have a special competence, i.e., the common law or constitutional law,’ ” the court need not defer to the agency’s interpretation. Johnston-Willis, Ltd. v. Kenley, 6 Va.App. 231, 243-44, 369 S.E.2d 1, 8 (1988) (quoting Hi-Craft Clothing Co. v. NLRB, 660 F.2d 910, 914-15 (3d Cir. 1981)).
However, where the question involves an interpretation which is within the specialized competence of the agency and the agency has been entrusted with wide discretion by the General Assembly, the agency’s decision is entitled to special weight in the courts[, and] ... “judicial interference is permissible only for relief against the arbitrary or capricious action that constitutes a clear abuse of the delegated discretion.”
Id. at 244, 369 S.E.2d at 8 (quoting Va. Alcoholic Beverage Control Comm’n v. York St. Inn, Inc., 220 Va. 310, 315, 257 S.E.2d 851, 855 (1979)).
“ ‘[W]hether a particular person has the right to contest administrative action is largely a question of law, dependent on a number of variable factors, including the nature and extent of his interest, the character of the administrative act and the terms of the statute.’ ” D'Alessio v. Lukhard, 5 Va.App. 404, 407, 363 S.E.2d 715, 717 (1988) (quoting 73A C.J.S. Public Administrative Bodies and Procedure § 189 *610(1983)). Thus, an appellate court should review the trial court’s decision that appellants lacked standing under the VAPA de novo on appeal.
The stated purpose of the VAPA is “to supplement present and future basic laws conferring authority on agencies either to make regulations or decide cases as well as to standardize court review thereof save as laws hereafter enacted may otherwise expressly provide.” Code § [2.2— 4000]. The VAPA “does not supersede or repeal additional procedural requirements in such basic laws.” Id. Also, the VAPA expressly exempts certain agencies and agency actions from its provisions. Code § [2.2-4002]. Thus, the VAPA is intended to be a default or catch-all source of administrative due process, applicable whenever the basic law fails to provide process. See State Bd. of Health v. Virginia Hosp. Ass’n, 1 Va.App. 5, 382 S.E.2d 793 (1985). In summary, the VAPA governs an agency’s actions except where that agency’s basic law provides its own due process or where the VAPA expressly exempts a particular agency or its actions.
School Bd. of York v. Nicely, 12 Va.App. 1051, 1058-59, 408 S.E.2d 545, 549 (1991). The VAPA defines “basic laws” as the “provisions of the Constitution and statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia authorizing an agency to make regulations or decide cases or containing procedural requirements therefor.” Code § 2.2-4001.
In resolving whether a party has standing to appeal an agency’s action to the trial court, the trial court must determine whether the basic law contains a specific standing requirement, or whether the default standing requirement of the VAPA applies. Envtl. Def. Fund v. Va. State Water Control Bd., 12 Va.App. 456, 462, 404 S.E.2d 728, 732 (1991). Necessarily, the trial court must decide what basic law controls; in this case, the trial court had to decide whether HB 2316 supplanted the basic laws contained in Code §§ 32.1-102.1 to 32.1-102.13. However, such a determination requires first that the trial court evaluate whether HB 2316 is constitutional.
*611Indeed, every decision made by the Commissioner and by the trial court in this case was premised on the assumption that HB 2316 was constitutional. Appellants challenged, before both the Commissioner and the trial court, the constitutionality of HB 2316, alleging that it was special legislation; yet, both the Commissioner and the trial court refused to consider the constitutional arguments advanced by appellants on the grounds that HB 2316 removed their opportunity to contest any part of the proceedings on MFA’s applications for COPNs.
Such reasoning is clearly incorrect; one cannot be divested of standing to challenge the constitutionality of legislation by the very legislation argued to be unconstitutional.15 Further, standing to challenge the constitutionality and lawfulness of a statute or regulation is wholly separate from standing to challenge the merits of a decision. For example, the VAPA makes a distinction, in terms of standing to appeal, between one challenging the lawfulness of a regulation and one challenging the lawfulness of a case decision. The VAPA provides, in pertinent part, that “any person affected by and claiming the unlawfulness of any regulation, or party aggrieved by and claiming unlawfulness of a case decision ... shall have a right to direct review thereof by an appropriate and timely court action against the agency.” Code § 2.2-4026 (emphasis added). While the VAPA addresses only the lawfulness of a regulation and not the lawfulness of legislation, the distinction does not alter my analysis.
*612Thus, the trial court’s decision that appellants did not have standing to challenge the merits of the Commissioner’s actions has no bearing on whether appellants had standing to challenge the constitutionality of HB 2316. Indeed, constitutional standing is defined as “whether the parties seeking to invoke the court’s jurisdiction have ‘alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court so largely depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions.’ ” Cupp v. Bd. of Supervisors, 227 Va. 580, 589, 318 S.E.2d 407, 411 (1984) (quoting Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Envtl. Study Group, 438 U.S. 59, 72, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 2630, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978)).
While the constitutionality of legislation is a question of law that this Court normally reviews de novo on appeal, the consideration of whether legislation is unconstitutional special legislation requires factual findings that were not made below.16
*613All statutes enacted by the General Assembly are presumed to be constitutional. Pulliam v. Coastal Emergency Servs., Inc., 257 Va. 1, 9, 509 S.E.2d 307, 311 (1999). A litigant who challenges the constitutional validity of a statute has the burden of proving that the challenged legislation is unconstitutional, and any reasonable doubt as to the statute’s constitutionality must be resolved in favor of its validity. Id.
Article IV, § 14(18), of the Virginia Constitution provides that “the General Assembly shall not enact any local, special, or private law ... [granting to any private corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive right, privilege, or immunity.” Article IV, § 15, continues by mandating that “the General Assembly shall enact general laws____No private corporation, association, or individual shall be specially exempted from the operation of any general law, nor shall a general law’s operation be suspended for the benefit of any private corporation, association, or individual.”
These provisions, first adopted as part of the Constitution of 1902, were devised to “correct the perception that the General Assembly, in the nineteenth century, devoted an excessive amount of its time to the furtherance of private interests and to counter the ‘sway that moneyed interests were seen to hold over state legislatures at the turn of the century.’” Benderson Dev. Co. v. Sciortino, 236 Va. 136, 147, 372 S.E.2d 751, 756 (1988) (quoting 1 A.E. Dick Howard, Commentaries on the Constitution of Virginia 543 (1974)). “ ‘Taken together, the pervading philosophy of Article IV, sections 14 and 15 reflects an effort to avoid favoritism, discrimination, and inequalities in the application of the laws.’ ” Id. at 147, 372 S.E.2d at 756-57 (quoting Howard, supra, at 549).
*614“The constitutional provisions prohibiting special legislation do not proscribe classifications.” Jefferson Green Unit Owners Ass’n v. Gwinn, 262 Va. 449, 459, 551 S.E.2d 339, 344 (2001). “However, to pass constitutional scrutiny, a classification ‘must be natural and reasonable, and appropriate to the occasion.’ ” Id. (quoting Martin’s Ex’rs v. Commonwealth, 126 Va. 603, 612, 102 S.E. 77, 80 (1920)). “[T]he test for statutes challenged under the special-laws prohibitions in the Virginia Constitution is that they must bear ‘a reasonable and substantial relation to the object sought to be accomplished by the legislation.’ ” Sciortino, 236 Va. at 147, 372 S.E.2d at 757 (quoting Mandell v. Haddon, 202 Va. 979, 991, 121 S.E.2d 516, 525 (1961)). “But the necessity for and the reasonableness of classification are primarily questions for the legislature. If any state of facts can be reasonably conceived, that would sustain it, that state of facts at the time the law was enacted must be assumed.” Martin’s Ex’rs, 126 Va. at 612-13, 102 S.E. at 80. “The party assailing the enactment carries the burden of establishing ‘that it does not rest upon a reasonable basis, and is essentially arbitrary.’ ” Gwinn, 262 Va. at 459, 551 S.E.2d 339 (quoting Holly Hill Farm Corp. v. Rowe, 241 Va. 425, 431, 404 S.E.2d 48, 50 (1991)).
“The test of a special law is the appropriateness of its provisions to the objects that it excludes. It is not, therefore, what a law includes that makes it special, but what it excludes. If nothing be excluded that should be contained, the law is general. Within this distinction between a special and a general law, the question in every case is whether any appropriate subject is excluded to which the law, but for its limitations, would apply. If the only limitation contained in a law is a legislative classification of its objects, it is a general law.”
Martin’s Ex’rs, 126 Va. at 612, 102 S.E. at 80 (quoting Budd v. Hancock, 66 N.J.L. 133, 48 A. 1023, 1024 (1901)).
“Laws may be made to apply to a class only, and that class may be in point of fact a small one, provided the classification itself be a reasonable and not an arbitrary one, and the law be made to apply to all of the persons belonging to the class *615without distinction.” Ex parte Settle, 114 Va. 715, 718-19, 77 S.E. 496, 497 (1913). “There must be some such difference in the situation of the subjects of the different classes as to reasonably justify some variety of rule in respect thereto.” Martin’s Ex’rs, 126 Va. at 612, 102 S.E. at 80.
“An act is not general when the class established by its provisions is at once so narrow and so arbitrary that duplication of its content is to be ranked as an unexpected freak of chance, a turn of the wheel of fortune defying probabilities.”
Peery v. Va. Bd. of Funeral Dirs. & Embalmers, 203 Va. 161, 167, 123 S.E.2d 94, 98 (1961) (quoting In re Elm Street in New York, 246 N.Y. 72, 158 N.E. 24, 26 (1927)).
Thus, in order to determine the constitutionality of HB 2316, this Court would have to decide whether the classification is reasonable and not arbitrary. To do so, the Court must consider: (1) the legislative history and purpose of the Act, see Sciortino, 236 Va. at 149, 372 S.E.2d at 757; (2) whether the classification in the Act promotes the Act’s purpose, see Mandell, 202 Va. at 991, 121 S.E.2d at 525; Quesinberry v. Hull, 159 Va. 270, 275, 165 S.E. 382, 383 (1932); and (3) the factual determination of the inclusiveness or exclusiveness of the classification, see Quesinberry, 159 Va. at 273, 165 S.E. at 383 (considering number of counties in the class); Sciortino, 236 Va. at 149, 372 S.E.2d at 757 (considering number of workers exempt from the Sunday laws); County Bd. of Supervisors of Fairfax County v. Am. Trailer Co., 193 Va. 72, 78, 68 S.E.2d 115, 119 (1951) (considering number of counties included by classification).
These three factors are not exclusive, but are relevant to this particular analysis. Each case may warrant consideration of other factors depending on the particular facts of that case. “If any state of facts can be reasonably conceived, that would sustain it, that state of facts at the time the law was enacted must be assumed.” Martin’s Ex’rs, 126 Va. at 612-13, 102 S.E. at 80.
*616There is evidence in the record regarding the reasonableness of the classification in HB 2316; however, this evidence was not evaluated by either the Commissioner or the trial court.
In arguing that HB 2316 is unconstitutional special legislation, appellants point to several factors. First, in its report on the applications, DCOPN noted that the transfer of nursing home beds from one planning district to another is “exceedingly unusual” and that no similar request had been reviewed by the Department in at least seven years. Indeed, correspondence between counsel for MFA and staff at the Department of Health mentioned the “truly unique situation” the application poses and suggests that, in drafting procedures pursuant to HB 2316, the Department of Health must develop a “unique solution.” Counsel for MFA consulted with staff at the Department of Health in May 2005 regarding the drafting of these procedures pursuant to HB 2316 and provided guidance to the Department in interpreting what the legislature intended in drafting the legislation. Counsel for MFA remarked that his “partner” was “intimately involved in this legislation as it was winding its way through the [General Assembly].”
Additionally, counsel for MFA, in correspondence to the Department of Health, notes that Warsaw HCC “began reducing the number of residents in Warsaw starting around September of 04 in order to achieve an occupancy of 120” by December 31, 2004. Counsel for MFA asserts that this is the reason that HB 2316 uses occupancy rates on a single date, December 31, as part of the classification criteria. CVHPA commented that
occupancy on a single day is generally not used to identify unused capacity, rather overall occupancy for the year is commonly used in health planning since the average daily census of any facility can vary throughout a year based upon seasonality, staffing availability, management decisions, and other factors that may or may not be related to public need.
*617DCOPN noted that, contrary to HB 2816, no prior legislation regarding COPN applications had ever “directed substantial alterations in the review procedures, time frames, and content of a COPN review as set forth in the basic COPN law.”
DCOPN stated that
it is quite unlikely that any nursing home in Virginia, other than Warsaw HCC, could meet the very restrictive criteria of HB 2316. Other than a few nursing homes that opened in 2004, DCOPN can identify only two Virginia nursing homes, operated by multi-facility firms with locations in two or more planning districts, which had 2004 occupancy less than 67%. It seems unlikely that either of these two nursing homes would meet both the resident-origin requirement and the agency-staffing requirement set forth in HB 2316.
MFA, however, denies that they are the only facility that meets the criteria set forth in HB 2316. There is little evidence on this point developed in the record.
The issue of whether HB 2316 was special legislation was before the Commissioner, but he did not rule on it. The Commissioner found only that the criteria set forth in HB 2316 had been met, and issued the COPNs on this basis. On appeal to the trial court, appellants again raised the constitutionality of HB 2316, but the trial court failed to rule on that issue. Instead, the trial court found that appellants had no standing to challenge the issuance of the COPNs.
Here, there are factual disputes between appellants and MFA that must be resolved before the test for special legislation can be applied. Appellants argue that HB 2316 applies only to MFA, while MFA argues that the classification of HB 2316 is broad and potentially applies to many different nursing homes in Virginia.
Neither the Commissioner nor the trial court considered the purpose of HB 2316, whether the classification was reasonable, or whether the classification promotes the Act’s purpose. There was no factual determination of the inclusiveness or exclusiveness of the classification. No determination was *618made as to whether Warsaw HCC was the only member of the classification.
Thus, this Court cannot determine whether HB 2316 is special legislation. To do so would require this Court to make factual findings not made by the Commissioner or by the trial court. Edwards v. Commonwealth, 49 Va.App. 727, 742, 644 S.E.2d 396, 403 (2007) (holding that, where the trial court denied a defendant’s request “using an incorrect legal standard without making any of the predicate factual findings, one way or the other, required by the correct standard,” the only appellate remedy was to vacate the defendant’s convictions and “remand the case to the trial court -with instructions to conduct a hearing on the matter”).

CONCLUSION

Appellants raised a constitutional challenge to HB 2316 as special legislation that should have been considered by the trial court, as the trial court’s standing analysis under the VAPA applied only to arguments reaching the merits of the Commissioner’s decisions. Further, the Commissioner’s decisions were predicated on the assumption that HB 2316 was constitutional, though no constitutional analysis was conducted by the Commissioner. I do not believe that we can indulge such assumptions without determining first whether HB 2316 is constitutional. I would reverse the decision of the trial court to dismiss appellants’ petitions for appeal, and remand this case to the trial court with instructions to remand this case to the Commissioner to conduct a hearing to determine whether HB 2316 is unconstitutional special legislation. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion.

. MFA attributed the weak financial performance to "poor survey results and a Department of Justice investigation,” staff shortages, and the addition of a new nursing home facility in the Warsaw area. MFA noted that the combination of these factors led them to rely on outside agencies to staff their nursing positions and resulted in the facility operating at a loss.

. Code § 32.1-102.1 defines "project” as, among other things, "[a]n increase in the total number of beds or operating rooms in an existing medical care facility.” This statute categorizes a nursing home as a "medical care facility.” Thus, the applications for the COPNs involved here would normally fall under the definition of "project” for purposes of this statute.

. Code § 32.1-102.6(G) defines "good cause” as:
(i) there is significant relevant information not previously presented at and not available at the time of the public hearing, (ii) there have been significant changes in factors or circumstances relating to the application subsequent to the public hearing, or (iii) there is a substantial material mistake of fact or law in the Department staff’s report on the application or in the report submitted by the health planning agency.

. Although Warsaw HCC had a COPN to operate 180 nursing home beds, beginning in September 2004, MFA began reducing the number of occupied beds at Warsaw HCC with the goal of reaching 120 occupied beds by December 31, 2004.

. CVHPA noted that they disagreed with the exclusion of MFA’s applications from the normal review process for COPNs, remarking that prior legislation passed by the legislature had only removed the RFA process from the required COPN procedures. Further CVHPA believed that, under their Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Health, they were mandated to conduct the same review of all *606COPN applications. As such, CVHPA proceeded as they would with any other application, notwithstanding the special procedures issued by DCOPN.

. Indeed, in an internal memorandum to the Commissioner dated December 9, 2005, DCOPN stated that they recommended approval of the applications "only because the language of HB 2316 seems to leave us no choice” and that approval was "clearly harmful to the public interest that the COPN program is intended to serve.”

. Three of the appellants filed their petitions for appeal in the Circuit Court for Chesterfield County, while the remaining two appellants filed their petitions for appeal in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond. These filings were based on the different physical locations of each appellant. As the petitions in Chesterfield County were filed first, venue was transferred in the cases arising in the City of Richmond to Chesterfield County and the separate petitions were consolidated into one case.

. Appellants raise various other arguments on appeal. However, the analysis of these issues requires a determination as to whether HB 2316 is unconstitutional special legislation. Because I would remand this case for a determination as to the constitutionality of HB 2316, I would not address any of these arguments on appeal.

. In turn, the analysis in the majority opinion presupposes the constitutionality of HB 2316 without first determining whether the statute is constitutional. The majority contends that appellants have no remedy under VAPA, and must instead file a separate action for declaratory judgment or seek injunctive relief. Appellants raised the constitutionality of HB 2316 before the Commissioner, before the trial court, and before this Court throughout their appeal. By concluding that HB 2316 precludes any action under VAPA, the majority deems the statute constitutional without engaging in a review of the statute’s constitutionality. It is this reasoning, also exhibited by the trial court, that prevents me from joining in the majority's analysis.

. The majority opinion maintains that, in order to resolve the constitutionality of HB 2316, appellants had to seek either a declarative judgment or injunctive relief in the trial court separately from their administrative action under the VAPA.
I disagree. Appellants are entitled to receive complete relief administratively; they are not required to parse out their claims, pursuing some of their claims administratively and others simultaneously in the trial court. Our standard of review on appeal from agency decisions acknowledges that agencies do in fact decide issues of constitutionality.
"If the issue falls outside the area generally entrusted to the agency, and is one in which the courts have special competence, i.e., the common law or constitutional law," the court need not defer to the agency’s interpretation.
Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hosps., Inc. v. Peterson, 36 Va.App. 469, 475, 553 S.E.2d 133, 136 (2001) (quoting Kenley, 6 Va.App. at 243-44, 369 S.E.2d at 8) (emphasis added).
Hence, where the issues to be reviewed on appeal involve, for example, the constitutionality of a statute, ... "less deference is required and the reviewing courts should not abdicate their judicial function and merely rubber-stamp an agency determination."
Volkswagen of Am., Inc. v. Quillian, 39 Va.App. 35, 50, 569 S.E.2d 744, 752 (2002) (quoting Kenley, 6 Va.App. at 243, 369 S.E.2d at 7-8) (emphasis added), rev’d in part on other grounds, 266 Va. 444, 587 S.E.2d 526 (2003). Thus, it is clear that agencies can properly consider the challenges to the constitutionality of statutes. I see no reason that *613the Commissioner could not have considered such a challenge in the instant case. See Volkswagen of Am., Inc. v. Smit, 266 Va. 444, 449, 454, 587 S.E.2d 526, 529, 532 (2003) (noting that, while the Court declined to rule on the constitutional issues because it decided the case on the merits, the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles had considered challenges to the constitutionality of a statute when the case was before the agency and that "the constitutional issues may arise again” on remand to the Commissioner).