Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board v. Crane

23 P.3d 129, 135 Idaho 667, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 34
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedApril 18, 2001
Docket26304
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 23 P.3d 129 (Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board v. Crane) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board v. Crane, 23 P.3d 129, 135 Idaho 667, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 34 (Idaho 2001).

Opinions

WALTERS, Justice.

This appeal addresses the validity of the 1998 amendments to Article IX, Sections 3 and 11 of the Idaho Constitution and the subsequently enacted Idaho School Bond Guaranty Act and related statutory amend[669]*669ments.1 We uphold the amendments and the statutory enactments.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1998, the Idaho legislature adopted House Joint Resolution (H. J.R.) 8, which proposed to amend Sections 3 and 11 of Article IX of the Idaho Constitution. Section 1 of H.J.R.8 proposed several amendments to Article IX, § 3 including:

1. Change the name of the “Public School Fund” to the “Public School Permanent Endowment Fund.”
2. Provide that earnings of the Public School Permanent Endowment Fund shall be deposited into the Public School Earnings Reserve Fund and distributed to schools, counties, and school districts; and prohibit transferring any part of the permanent endowment fund principal.
3. Provide that funds shall not be appropriated by the legislature from the public school earnings reserve fund except to pay administrative costs incurred managing the assets of the public school endowment including, but not limited to, real property and monetary assets.
4. Provide that the state treasurer is the custodian of the funds.
5. Provide that as defined and prescribed by law, the state shall supply losses incurred by the public school permanent endowment fund, excepting moneys allocated from the public school earnings reserve fund.

Section 2 of H.J.R.8 proposed an amendment to Article IX, § 11 of the Idaho Constitution as follows:

1.Change the title to Section 11 of Article IX from “Loaning Permanent Endowment Funds” to “Investing Permanent Endowment Funds.”
2.Provide for investing of Permanent Endowment Funds.

Section 3 of H.J.R.8 set forth the question to be submitted to the electors of the State of Idaho at the next general election, which read as follows:

Shall Section 3, Article IX, and Section 11, Article IX, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho be amended as follows:
1. To change the name of the Public School fund to the Public School Permanent Endowment Fund;
2. To provide that the earnings of that fund shall be deposited into the Public School Earnings Reserve fund and distributed in the maintenance of the schools and among the counties and school districts of the State;
3. To provide that no part of the Public School Permanent Endowment Fund principal shall be transferred, used or appropriated to any other fund;
4. To prohibit legislative appropriations from the funds except that the legislature may appropriate moneys from the Public School Earnings Reserve Fund to pay for administrative costs incurred managing the assets of the public school endowment including, but not limited to, real property and monetary assets;
5. To provide that the state treasurer is the custodian of these funds;
6. To provide that the state shall supply losses incurred by the Public School Permanent endowment Fund, excepting losses on moneys allocated from the Public School Earnings Reserve Fund; and
[670]*6707. To provide that permanent endowment funds may be invested, rather than loaned, in investments in which a trustee is authorized to invest pursuant to state law?

Section 4 of H.J.R.8 directed the Legisla-tive Council to prepare the statements required by Section 67-453, Idaho Code, and file the same. Section 5 of H.J.R.8 directed the Secretary of State to publish the proposed constitutional amendment and arguments as required by law.

On November 3,1998, the voters approved H.J.R.8, amending Article IX, Sections 3 and 11 of the Idaho Constitution. The statutes creating the Public School Permanent Endowment Fund and the Public School Earnings Reserve Fund are found at I.C. §§ 33-902, -902A, respectively. See 1998 Idaho Session Laws, ch. 256, §§ 7, 8.

In the November 3, 1998, election, the voters also approved an amendment to Article VIII, Section 2, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.R.) 106. The amendment created the “public school guarantee fund which shall consist of funds provided by law to guarantee the debt of school districts in accordance with law.” The section further stated that “[t]he legislature may provide by law that reimbursement to the state shall be obtained from moneys which otherwise would be used for the support of the educational programs of the school district which incurred the debt with respect to which a payment under the state’s guaranty pursuant to this section was made.” Art. VIII, § 2.

Also in 1998, Congress amended the Idaho Admission Bill, in which the federal government, upon Idaho’s admission into the union, endowed in trust Idaho endowment lands to the State of Idaho for the benefit of public schools. The amendment to Section 5 of the Idaho Admission Bill provided for the sale, lease or exchange of school land and authorized use of the proceeds therefrom. See 112 Stat. 282, Pub.L. 105-296 (1998).

In the spring of 1999, the Idaho legislature declared that an emergency existed and enacted into law an Act relating to the guarantee of school district bonds by the state. See 1999 Idaho Session Laws, eh. 328. See infra note 1. Upon advice of bond counsel, the Idaho state treasurer refused to implement the guaranty program.

Consequently, on September 8, 1999, the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board and the Minidoka County Joint School District No. 331 brought this action against the Idaho state treasurer. The complaint sought a declaratory judgment that the Act was valid and constitutional and immediately subject to implementation by the treasurer, whose primary duty under I.C. § 33-5301 et seq., is to administer the Act and the guaranty program. The amended complaint, which added the Kootenai Joint School District No. 274 as a plaintiff, also sought an injunction to compel the participation of the treasurer in the administration of the guaranty program, in order that the applying school districts might increase the marketability of their bonds and benefit from the state’s enhanced rating on the particular school district bonds.

The treasurer answered the complaint, asserting that the creation of the public school guaranty fund and the pledge of state sales taxes for the purposes of the guaranty fund violated the Idaho Constitution by exceeding the authority of Article VIII, Section 2. The treasurer further challenged the validity of the 1998 constitutional amendments to Article VIII, Section 2 and Article IX, Sections 3 and 11 and raised the issue of whether the amendments were consistent with the Idaho Admission Bill.

On February 2, 2000, the district court issued its memorandum decision and order on the parties’ motions for summary judgment. The district court entered judgment in favor of the Board, holding as a matter of law that the Act and its related amendments were constitutional and not in violation of the Idaho Admission Bill.

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Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board v. Crane
23 P.3d 129 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
23 P.3d 129, 135 Idaho 667, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/idaho-endowment-fund-investment-board-v-crane-idaho-2001.