Hayes v. Spalding

2014 CO 52, 333 P.3d 76, 2014 WL 2814833
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 23, 2014
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 14SA105
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2014 CO 52 (Hayes v. Spalding) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayes v. Spalding, 2014 CO 52, 333 P.3d 76, 2014 WL 2814833 (Colo. 2014).

Opinions

JUSTICE HOBBS

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

1 In this case reviewing the action of the Title Board setting a title for a proposed initiative, we hold that Proposed Initiative for 2013-2014 #76 relates to more than one subject and has at least two distinct and separate purposes that are not dependent upon or necessarily and properly connected with each other, in violation of article V, section 1(5.5), of the Colorado Constitution.1

12 Initiative #76 would repeal existing article XXI of the Colorado Constitution in its entirety. Currently, article XXI sets forth provisions for recalling state and local elected officers. Initiative #76 proposes to comprehensively revamp article XXI's recall provisions, for the purpose of altering the manner in which state and local recall elections are triggered and conducted. Initiative # 76 has a second purpose, to establish a new constitutional right to recall non-elected state and local officers. Historically, Colorado law has provided only for the recall of elected officers. The initiative's second subject has a distinct and separate purpose from its first subject. Because the second subject has a purpose that is not dependent upon or necessarily and properly connected to the first, we conclude that Initiative # 76 proposes more than a single subject in violation of article V, section 1(5.5) of the Colorado Constitution.

13 Accordingly, we reverse the Title Board's action and return this matter to it with directions to strike the title and return the initiative to its proponents.

I.

T4 Proposed by registered electors Mike Spalding and Natalie Menten, Proposed Initiative for 2018-2014 #76 seeks to repeal and replace the existing manner of triggering and conducting a recall election under Colorado Constitution article XXI and also institute a new constitutional right to recall state and local non-elected officers. The Title Board set a title and submission clause for this initiative. Registered elector Philip Hayes objected to the Title Board's action. He filed a motion for rehearing on grounds that the initiative contained multiple subjects in violation of article V, section 1(5.5), of the Colorado Constitution. The Title Board modified the title and submission clause in response to two of Hayes' objections but otherwise denied the motion for rehearing. It ruled that the initiative contains only a single subject, "the recall of government officers." It then finalized the title and submission clause for Initiative #76. Hayes appealed the Title Board's action to us pursuant to section 1-40-107, C.R.S. (2013).

€ 5 The proponents of the initiative and the Title Board contend that the initiative, the title, and the submission clause address only a single subject in compliance with constitutional, statutory, and case law requirements. We disagree. We agree with Hayes that the initiative unconstitutionally proposes multiple subjects and the Title Board acted unconstitutionally in setting a title for it.

IL.

16 We hold that Initiative # 76 relates to more than one subject and has at least two distinct and separate purposes that are not dependent upon or necessarily and properly connected with each other, in violation of article V, section 1(5.5), of the Colorado Constitution.

A. Standard of Review

17 In 1994, Colorado's electorate approved a referendum that extended the single subject/clear title limitation applicable to bills to proposed initiatives. In re Proposed Initiative for 1999-2000 # 25, 974 P.2d 458, 463 n. 4 (Colo.1999). "[A] proposed initiative contains multiple subjects not only when it proposes new provisions constituting multiple subjects, but also when it proposes to repeal [79]*79multiple subjects." In re Proposed Initiative for 1999-2000 # 104, 987 P.2d 249, 254 (Colo.1999) (emphasis in original). The legislature has assigned to us the duty of reviewing whether the Title Board has discharged its responsibilities in accordance with the applicable law. § 1-40-107; see also Id.

18 Our function is limited to determining whether the contested language within the initiative creates a distinct and separate subject which is not connected to or dependent upon the remaining aspects of the initiative. Id. at 258. In reviewing a challenge to the Title Board's single subject determination, we employ all legitimate presumptions in favor of the Title Board's actions; we will only overturn the Title Board's finding that an initiative contains a single subject in a clear case. In re Proposed Initiative for 2011-2012 # 45, 274 P.3d 576, 579 (Colo.2012). The subject matter of an initiative must be necessarily and properly connected rather than disconnected or incongruous. Id. We do not determine the initiative's efficacy, construction, or future application. See In re Proposed Initiative for 2009-2010 # 91, 235 P.3d 1071, 1076 But, like the constitutional single subject requirement for bills passed by the General Assembly, the single subject limitation applicable to initiatives prevents the proponents from combining multiple subjects to attract a "yes" vote from voters who might vote "no" on one or more of the subjects if they were proposed separately. In re Proposed Initiative for 1997-1998 # 84, 961 P.2d 456, 458 (Colo.1998). We must sufficiently examine an initiative to determine whether or not it violates the constitutional prohibition against initiative proposals containing multiple subjects. Id.

T9 We begin our analysis in this case by examining the proponents' and Title Board's fundamental error in assuming that article XXI currently provides for the recall of both non-elected and elected officers. We then address sections 2 and 8 of Initiative #76. We conclude that these sections propose new recall petition, election, and vacancy provisions, for the purpose of altering the requirements for triggering and conducting state and local recall elections. These provisions would repeal, replace, and preempt multiple but unspecified existing constitutional, statutory, and home rule charter provisions. These changes to the existing recall process constitute at least one subject. Then, we turn to the initiative's section 1. We conclude that it proposes to institute a new constitutional right to recall non-elected officers, in addition to elected officers. This is a second subject with a distinct and separate purpose not dependent upon or connected to the first subject.

T 10 The proponents attempt to unite these separate subjects under the description "recall of government officers" in the title and submission clause. We have previously found such umbrella proposals unconstitutional. For example, we have rejected attempts to pass disparate proposals with common themes such as "water," In re Public Rights in Waters II, 898 P.2d 1076, 1080 (Colo.1995), or "revenue changes," In re Amend TABOR 25, 900 P.2d 121, 125-26 (Colo.1995). Such initiatives combine proposals that voters might favor with those they would otherwise oppose, in order to achieve passage. See In re Proposed Initiative for 2005-2006 # 55, 138 P.3d 273, 282 (Colo.2006).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 CO 52, 333 P.3d 76, 2014 WL 2814833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayes-v-spalding-colo-2014.