Court Opinion

ID: 9603991
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:12:18.946234+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:16.762739
License: Public Domain

Wright, J.
(concurring) — I concur with the result *353reached by the majority. I do so on the basis of Const, art 1, § 23 which reads in part: “No . . . law impairing the obligations of contracts shall ever be passed.” U.S. Const, art. 1, § 10 contains a similar limitation upon the legislative power of the several states: “No state shall . . . pass any . . . law impairing the obligation of contracts . . .” I agree with the majority with respect to the impairment of the obligation of contract.
As to the need for an appropriation before paying money out of the state treasury, I find it my duty to respectfully disagree with the majority. The language of Const, art. 8, § 4 (amendment 11) is plain, unambiguous and direct. It reads:
No moneys shall ever he paid out of the treasury of this state, or any of its funds, or any of the funds under its management, except in pursuance of an appropriation by law; nor unless such payment be made within one calendar month after the end of the next ensuing fiscal biennium, and every such law making a new appropriation, or continuing or reviving an appropriation, shall distinctly specify the sum appropriated, and the object to which it is to be applied, and it shall not be sufficient for such law to refer to any other law to fix such sum.
(Italics mine.)
When the language of a constitutional provision is plain on its face, no construction is necessary or permissible. State ex rel. Evans v. Brotherhood of Friends, 41 Wn.2d 133, 247 P.2d 787 (1952); State ex rel. O’Connell v. Slavin, 75 Wn.2d 554, 452 P.2d 943 (1969); State ex rel. Swan v. Jones, 47 Wn.2d 718; 289 P.2d 982 (1955); United States v. Sprague, 282 U.S. 716, 75 L. Ed. 640, 51 S. Ct. 220, 71 A.L.R. 1381 (1931).
In this connection, it is also well to keep in mind Const, art 1, § 29, which reads: “The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise.”
In this connection even the majority concedes: “Arguably the literal language of the constitution would require a *354legislative appropriation to disburse any funds from the state treasury under the express words of that article.”
The constitutional provision being plain, it is likewise plain that an appropriation is required to disburse money from the state treasury, “or any of its funds, or any of the funds under its management.” Any cases to the contrary are directly contrary to the constitution and should be forthwith overruled.
I would grant the writ, but only on the basis of the constitutional prohibition against impairment of the obligation of contracts.