Court Opinion

ID: 9739800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:21:06.237597+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:13.994346
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion
Achor, J.
— There are several aspects of this case which, in my opinion, should receive further consideration.
Numerous cases have been cited from other courts as providing controlling precedent for the case before us. However, it is to be noted that the pertinent provisions in the Indiana Constitution and in the Constitution of the United States [and in most jurisdictions which follow the U. S. Constitution] are clearly distinguishable, and, therefore, the cases decided under the latter constitutional provision are not controlling of the case now before us.
The respective constitutional provisions are set out in the majority opinion and are, therefore, not here repeated.
The Constitution of Hawaii follows very closely the provision of the United States Constitution. The distinguishing feature was noted in the case of Haw’n *54Airlines v. Pub. Ut. Com., T. H. (1959), 43 Hawaii 216, at p. 219, in the following statement:
“ . . . Nowhere in the Organic Act is there an indication that the right of the legislature to consider the governor’s objections, once lost by a sine die adjournment of the regular session, may be revived by the convening of a special session.” [My italics.)
Thus, under the United States Constitution, and other constitutions similar thereto, it necessarily follows that the general [sine die] adjournment operated to effect an end of the whole matter. Stated otherwise, since the Organic Law of such jurisdictions contain no provision that, after a general adjournment, any bill vetoed by the Chief Executive may be presented to another session of the Legislature, it necessarily follows that such a general adjournment of one session of the Legislature operates as a matter of law to “prevent” and render “impossible” the transmitting of any bills by the Chief Executive to another session of the Legislature. It is for this reason that the United States Supreme Court properly held in the case of Okanogan, etc., Indian Tribes v. United States (1929), 279 U. S. 655, 681, 49 S. Ct. 463, 467, 73 L. Ed. 894, 898, that:
“ . . . [S]ince the President may return a bill at any time within the allotted period, he is prevented from returning it, within the meaning of the constitutional provision, if by reason of the adjournment it is impossible for him to return it to the House in which it originated on the last day of that period.”
However, the Indiana Constitution contains express and explicit provision that [except as to bills sent to the Governor during the last two days of the .session] all bills passed by the Legislature and presented to.the *55Governor but not signed by him must be returned to the Legislature for reconsideration. Because the Indiana Constitution is unique in this respect, the cases cited and relied upon by the appellant from other jurisdictions are of little or no assistance in deciding the question before us.
We therefore proceed to give consideration to the construction of the constitutional provision without the benefit of judicial reasoning or precedent, since the unique provision of our constitution has not previously been considered by this court. In doing so, we are urged first to give consideration to the contention that the Legislature, by its own action, has demonstrated an intention to construe the constitutional provision, so as to provide that the Governor is not required to return a bill vetoed by him to a subsequent session of the Legislature, in event such session is in progress on the third day following the delivery of the bill to him, but that he may wait until the fifth day and transmit such bill to the Secretary of State, which was the practice followed in this instance.
In considering appellant’s contention, there are two further facts which bear upon the matter. First, no instance has -been cited prior to the instant case, where a special session of the Legislature immediately succeeded a prior session after a general adjournment and bills passed by the prior session not signed by the Governor could have been, but were not, transmitted by the Governor to such special session of the Legislature. Secondly, although the conduct of the Legislature may be indicative of the legislative intention, regarding the acts of the Legislature, itself, such conduct is not controlling as to the construction which must be placed upon the Organic Law itself. Upon this subject, this court in the case of Tucker et al. v. State of In*56diana (1941), 218 Ind. 614, 676, 35 N. E. 2d 270, stated:
“ . . . But the Legislature did not enact the Constitution, and a legislative intention as to how the Constitution is to operate is of little value in determining the intention of the drafters of the Constitution, especially where the legislative interpretation involves the usurpation of powers which the Constitution vests in the other departments of government....”
In construing the provision of our constitution, we must look to the express language of the provision, itself; and, if there is any ambiguity as to what is a proper construction of the provision, we must then consider the provision as it is related to other provisions within the constitution, and the intention of the framers of the constitution, as indicated by the history of the development of the particular provision.
The pertinent part of the constitutional provision, which we must here consider, is as follows:
“Every bill which shall have passed the General Assembly, shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it shall have originated;... if approved by a majority of all members elected to that House, it shall be a law. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within three days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him it shall be a law, without his signature, unless the general adjournment shall prevent its return; in which case it shall be a law unless the Governor, within five days next after such adjournment, shall file such bill, with his objections thereto, in the office of Secretary of State; who shall lay the same before the General Assembly at its next session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor. But no bill shall be presented to the Governor, within two days next previous to the final adjourn*57ment of the General Assembly.” Art. 5, §14, Indiana Constitution.
It is to be noted that the second sentence of the above quoted provision prescribes the procedure which must be followed, with respect to a bill, in event it is vetoed by the Governor and not returned to the Legislature before adjournment. It is this sentence which we must construe. It is in three separate clauses. The first clause provides that “If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within three days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him it shall be a law, without his signature, unless the general adjournment shall prevent its return.” In this case, by reason of the special session of the Legislature having been called upon the third day after the bill had been presented to the Governor, under the clear, cold and unqualified language of the provision the general adjournment of the 93rd session of the Legislature did not prevent the Governor from returning the bill to the Senate [the House in which it originated] on that date.
However, it is asserted that the second and third clauses of the provision demonstrates a constitutional intention to restrict the procedure by which a bill is transmitted to a subsequent session of the Legislature to the procedure therein contained. As above stated, this provision states, “unless the Governor, within five days next after such adjournment, shall file such bill, with his objections thereto, in the office of Secretary of State; who shall lay the same before the General Assembly at its next session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor.” [My emphasis.] It occurs to me that these two clauses do not necessarily demonstrate the constitutional intention asserted by the appellants. For example, what is the meaning *58of the term “such bill,” as used in the above provision ? Reasonably, it would mean the bill, as described and qualified in the previous clause of the same sentence. Thus, it could only reasonably mean a bill which could not be returned to the House of its origin, with the objections of the governor thereto, within three days of its receipt by him. As explained above, the bill with which we are here concerned was not such a bill, since the bill could have been returned to the House of its origin within the prescribed three day period. Furthermore, the last clause of the sentence provides that [the Secretary of State] “who shall lay the same before the General Assembly at its next session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor.” The phrase “in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor,” carries a clear implication that, under other provisions within the procedure prescribed in the same sentence, it is intended that the Governor may lay bills before the General Assembly at its next session. Otherwise, this aspect of the directive to the Secretary of State has little or no meaning within the sentence in which it is cast. Thus, the second and third clauses of the sentence support the clear and unequated provision contained in the first clause thereof, which provides that unless a general adjournment of the Legislature shall prevent the return of a bill by the Governor to the House in which it originated upon the third day after it is presented to him, it shall be a law without his signature.
However, assuming arguendo that there is ambiguity ’as to the construction of the above provision, we must consider this ambiguity liberally in favor of the Legislature and strictly against the Executive. In this case, the rule of construction is grounded upon two facts. *59First, we are dealing with a legislative enactment under a constitution which provides:
“The Legislative authority of the State shall be vested in the General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. ...” Art. 4, §1, Indiana Constitution.
Since the Indiana Constitution provision granting veto power of the Governor has been transferred from the Legislative branch of the government to the Executive branch of our government, it is merely a limitation on the power fundamentally vested in the Legislature. Such limitation should therefore be exercised only as it is expressed in clear and unambiguous terms within the constitutional provision, itself.
Furthermore, if we are to construe the constitutional provision, it is proper that we give consideration to the history of the particular constitutional provision. Without resorting to a belaboring discussion of the issue, it is to be noted that there is a clear and progressive intention to restrict the veto power of the Chief Executive. Briefly, this intention is demonstrated by the changes in the provision, as it originally appeared in the United States Constitution, and has subsequently been modified by the Constitutional Conventions of Kentucky, the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1816, and, finally, to its present form and status, as stated by the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1851.
It is significant that the veto power of the President was, by the Constitution of the United States, cast within the Legislative branch of the government itself. It was provided that the President have ten days in which to exercise his power of veto, which veto could only be overwritten by two-thirds of the majority of both Houses of Congress. He could pocket veto any bill pre*60sented to him within ten days of the general adjournment of the Congress and, in event of his veto of. a bill, he had no obligation whatsoever to refer the bill to any subsequent session of the Congress.
The -President’s broad powers of veto, which, by the Constitution, were cast within the Legislative branch of the government itself, are in marked contrast with the greatly restricted veto power of the Governor under .our present constitution. First, it is to be noted that the veto power of the Governor is removed from the Legislative branch of government and cast with the executive branch. The Governor is required to return a bill which he does not sign within three days instead of ten. To override his veto, it is necessary that the bill pass each House of the Legislature by a mere majority, and, furthermore, any bill which is presented to the Governor [except within the last two days of the session] must be returned to the next session of the Legislature for its action, notwithstanding the general adjournment thereof.