Court Opinion

ID: 9692341
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 15:52:07.137175+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:12.009011
License: Public Domain

WOLLMAN, Justice
(concurring specially).
Although I agree with the answer given by my colleagues with respect to the ques*447tions raised in the request for an advisory-opinion, I would respectfully have declined to render the requested opinion.
■ The questions of law set forth in the request are, of course, important; indeed, we hold that the Act in question is unconstitutional, at least in part. The questions of law regarding the exercise of the Governor’s executive authority, however, are not such as would warrant us in answering the request. Section 1 of the Act, Chapter 239, Laws of 1977, provides that the members of the South Dakota Building Authority shall constitute the membership of the Bridge Authority. The Governor is given no discretion in the matter; if he must do anything it is to perform the ministerial act of signing the appointments. Once the members are appointed, the Governor’s duties under the Act have been completed, save for the matter of reporting the budget to the legislature. There again, if the Act provides for the appropriation of two million dollars annually, then it would appear that the Governor has no choice but to include such appropriation within his annual budget report to the legislature. Whether the Act is unconstitutional in whole or in part has nothing to do with this quasi-ministerial act. The legislature having commanded the appropriation of money, the Governor must include it within his budget.
Whether the members of the Bridge Authority should proceed to carry out their statutory authority to issue bonds under the provisions of the Act is; of course, a most important question. Had an attempt been made to issue the bonds, then any taxpayer interested in challenging the constitutionality of the Act could have filed suit to restrain the Authority and the matter could have been resolved in adversary proceedings, a procedure that has been suggested in other cases. See In re Opinion of the Judges, 85 S.D. 390, 182 N.W.2d 849; cf. McFarland v. Barron, 83 S.D. 639, 164 N.W.2d 607. Granted that such a procedure would have been more costly and time consuming, in the absence of an emergency situation, and none is here alleged, important questions of constitutional law involved in the exercise of a public agency’s authority to spend public funds should be answered only after a full adversary hearing.
From what I have already said it should be clear that I do not consider that the exercise of the Governor’s executive powers with respect to his duties under the Act could be considered a solemn occasion within the meaning of Article V, Section 5 of the Constitution. True, the potential expenditure of some fifteen million dollars, together with interest and costs, might not be considered by all taxpayers, especially those not directly benefitted thereby, to be an occasion of levity and rejoicing, but it seems to me that we trivialize the meaning of the term if we characterize the instant situation as constituting a solemn occasion. I would restrict the definition of “solemn occasion” to include those situations where the public fisc is in jeopardy, where the general welfare of the citizens of the state is threatened, where the maintenance of order demands immediate executive action, and other occasions of similar gravity when the welfare of our citizenry is so imperiled that it would give us pause not to answer a request for an advisory opinion. This is not such an occasion, and accordingly I would respectfully decline to answer the questions raised.
I do not question the concern that the Governor must understandably share regarding the constitutionality of the Act; cf. Opinion of the Supreme Court, 87 S.D. 399, 209 N.W.2d 668, nor do I overlook the fact that on other occasions I would have answered a request that my then colleagues declined to answer. See In re Opinion of the Judges, supra. Rather, I express these views to emphasize my opinion that we should reserve answer to requests for advisory opinions to those situations in which the exercise of the Governor’s executive power will result in immediate consequences having an impact on the institutions of state government or on the welfare of the public and which involve questions that cannot be answered expeditiously through usual adversary proceedings.
*448Notwithstanding my personal opinion that the request for an advisory opinion should not have been answered, because I agree with the Court’s opinion regarding the answer given I join in that portion of the opinion that holds that the Act would result in the unconstitutional diversion of highway funds.
Respectfully submitted this 26th day of August, 1977.