Cambria v. Soaries

776 A.2d 754, 169 N.J. 1, 2000 N.J. LEXIS 1743
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedJuly 19, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 776 A.2d 754 (Cambria v. Soaries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cambria v. Soaries, 776 A.2d 754, 169 N.J. 1, 2000 N.J. LEXIS 1743 (N.J. 2001).

Opinion

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

PORITZ, C.J.

This case involves a provision of the New Jersey Constitution that establishes the mechanism by which the Constitution may be amended. We have been asked for the first time to interpret the requirement set forth in Article IX, Paragraph 5 that the Legislature must present “more than one amendment” to the people “separately and distinctly.” In specific, plaintiffs contend that Article IX, Paragraph 5 prohibits the dedication of two types of state revenues to the Transportation Trust Fund in one amendment. We hold that under the standard set forth in this opinion *5 the separate vote requirement of Article IX is not violated by an amendment so structured.

I

On June 30, 2000, Concurrent Resolution No. 1 (the Resolution) was filed with Secretary of State Deforest B. Soaries for certification and submission to the Division of Elections-. The Resolution had been approved overwhelmingly by both the Senate (thirty-seven to one) and the Assembly (seventy-eight to one) just days earlier on June 26 and June 29. It called for a proposed amendment to Article VIII, Section 2, Paragraph 4 of the New Jersey Constitution to be placed on the November 2, 2000 ballot. That provision, in its pre-amendment form, stated:

There shall be credited to a special account in the General Fund for the State fiscal year in which the amendment to this paragraph is approved by the voters an amount equivalent to the revenue derived from $0,025 per gallon from the tax imposed on the sale of motor fuels pursuant to chapter 39 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes, and an amount equivalent to the revenue derived from $0.07 per gallon from the tax shall be credited to the account in each of the first two State fiscal years commencing after the approval of the amendment to this paragraph by the voters, and an amount equivalent to the revenue derived from $0.08 per gallon from the tax shall be credited to the account in the third State fiscal year commencing after the approval of the amendment to this paragraph by the voters, and an amount equivalent to the revenue derived from $0.09 per gallon from the tax shall be credited to the account in the fourth State fiscal year commencing after the approval of the amendment to this paragraph by the voters and annually thereafter; provided, however, the dedication and use of such revenues as provided in this paragraph shall be subject and subordinate to (a) all appropriations of revenues from such taxes made by laws enacted on or before December 6, 1984 in accordance with Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 3 of the State Constitution in order to provide the ways and means to pay the principal and interest on bonds of the State presently outstanding or authorized to be issued under such laws or (b) any other use of those revenues enacted into law on or before December 6, 1984. These amounts shall be appropriated from time to time by the Legislature, only for the purposes of paying or financing the cost of planning, acquisition, engineering, construction, reconstruction, repair and rehabilitation of the transportation system in this State and it shall not be competent for the Legislature to borrow, appropriate or use these amounts or any part thereof for any other purpose, under any pretense whatever.
[N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 2, ¶ 4 (amended 2000).]

*6 In addition to the 0.025 cents per gallon tax on the sale of motor fuels already constitutionally dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund under Article VIII, Section 2, Paragraph 4, for use in the construction and repair of the State’s transportation system, the amendment proposed the dedication of two new revenue streams for the same purpose: a minimum of $100,000 from the gross receipts tax on the sale of petroleum products in the first year, to be increased to $200,000 in every year thereafter; and a minimum of $80,000 from Sales and Use Tax receipts in the first year, to be increased to $140,000 in the second year, and to $200,000 in every year thereafter. According to the Interpretive Statement to the Resolution, the amount taken from Sales and Use Tax receipts would reflect approximately one-third of the tax collected from the sale of new motor vehicles.

Prior to the final approval of the Resolution by the Assembly, Sandra L. Matsen, President of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, Inc. (League), and Judith Cambria, the League’s Director of Fiscal Policy, wrote to and testified before the Assembly Appropriations Committee, expressing their belief that the Resolution was unconstitutional. They argued that by combining the proposed changes in one question, the Resolution deprived voters of their right under Article IX, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution to approve one change and reject another.

On July 24, 2000, plaintiffs filed a Verified Complaint in Lieu of Prerogative Writs and an Order to Show Cause with Temporary Restraints in the Law Division. Plaintiffs sought both a declaratory judgment that the Resolution violated Article IX, Paragraph 5, and a permanent injunction enjoining Secretary of State Soaries and Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr. (defendants) from taking action as necessary to have the Resolution placed on the November 2000 general election ballot. 1 Defendants responded *7 on July 31, 2000 with a Notice of Cross Motion to Dismiss the Verified Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. By decision dated August 4, 2000, the trial court denied plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief and granted defendants’ motion to dismiss. Cambria v. Soaries, 334 N.J.Super. 488, 759 A.2d 1256 (Law Div.2000). The Appellate Division affirmed on October 10, 2000, 2 Cambria v. Soaries, 334 N.J.Super. 437, 759 A.2d 1227 (2000). On October 11, 2000, plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal as of right with this Court. R. 2:2-1(a)(1). After hearing oral argument on October 24, 2000, we issued an order affirming the Appellate Division without opinion because of the need for an immediate response in light of the imminent general election. The Resolution was submitted to the voters on November 2, 2000, and was approved. In this opinion we now explain the basis for our earlier order of affirmance.

II

The paragraphs of Article IX of the New Jersey Constitution control the process by which the Constitution may be modified. That process begins in the Legislature, which is authorized by Paragraph 1 of Article IX to propose “[a]ny specific amendment or amendments” and to submit the proposal to the general public following approval by three-fifths of the members of each house. 3 The Legislature is required to enter the proposal and the votes thereon in the journal of each house, N.J. Const. art. IX, ¶ 2, and to publish it prior to submission to the public, N.J. Const. art. IX, *8 ¶ 3. Paragraph 4 authorizes the Legislature to determine the “manner and form” of proposed amendments, whereas Paragraph 5 provides for the submission of “more than one amendment ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
776 A.2d 754, 169 N.J. 1, 2000 N.J. LEXIS 1743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cambria-v-soaries-nj-2001.