Nelson v. Keisling

830 P.2d 591, 313 Or. 212, 1992 Ore. LEXIS 82
Oregon Supreme Court·Decided May 21, 1992·No. SC S39184·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

CARSON, C. J.

In this original proceeding, petitioner challenges the ballot title for a proposed initiative measure. Petitioner is an elector who timely submitted written comments on the Attorney General’s draft ballot title. Therefore, he is entitled to petition this court seeking a different title. ORS 250.085(2). Oregon Health Initiative, represented by intervenors Lowe, Stevens, and Graham, is a proponent of the measure, as is Oregonians for Health Care, represented by its director, intervenor Carlson. Intervenors are interested parties granted leave to intervene by this court under ORAP 11.30(8).

The Attorney General certified this ballot title to the Secretary of State:

“RAISES CIGARETTE, TOBACCO TAXES TO FUND HEALTH INSURANCE, EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT
“QUESTION: Shall cigarette, tobacco taxes rise to fund health insurance for uninsured families, education against tobacco use, state and local government?
“SUMMARY: Amends Oregon statutes. Raises taxes on distribution of cigarettes, tobacco products. Increase is 1-1/4 cents per cigarette, 25 percent of wholesale price of tobacco products. Taxes imposed on distributors. Raise effective January 1, 1993. 88 percent of net proceeds used for health insurance for uninsured Oregon families and community health education to discourage and reduce tobacco use, especially by children. Rest of cigarette tax hike to state General Fund, cities, counties, transportation services for elderly, disabled individuals. Rest of tobacco tax hike to General Fund.”

Petitioner accepts the Caption and Question but challenges the sufficiency of the Summary. We have considered petitioner’s arguments, but conclude that the ballot title certified by the Attorney General complies substantially with the requirements of ORS 250.035(l)(a) and (b). ORS 250.085(4). No more is required. McCain v. Keisling, 313 Or 63, 828 P2d 455 (1992).

Petitioner also asserts that Oregon Laws 1991, chapter 396, section 11 (“section 11”), discussed post, impliedly [215] amends ORS 250.0351 to require that all initiative or referendum ballot titles proposing taxing measures include a statement about the measure’s effect on local property tax collections. Petitioner contends that failure to include such a statement renders insufficient the Summary in the ballot title before us. The'state argues that consideration of section 11 is beyond our scope of review because it is not an express part of a statute under which we have authority to review challenged ballot titles. See ORS 250.085 (Supreme Court reviews for compliance with ORS 250.035 and 250.039). The state also argues that section 11 was not intended to apply to this or any other ballot title about state-imposed tax measures.

Our review in this case is limited to an assessment of compliance with ORS 250.035 and 250.039. ORS 250.085. However, petitioner contends that, by twice making reference to ORS 250.035, section 11 adds to the requirements of that statute and, consequently, we must determine whether section 11 has amended ORS 250.035 in order to know with what provisions the ballot title under consideration must comply. In other words, review for compliance with ORS 250.035 requires us to determine the parameters of that statute.

The legislature directed that section 11 be added to and made a part of ORS chapter 250. Or Laws 1991, ch 396, § 10. In the 1991 compilation of statutes, section 11 was placed immediately following ORS 250.035, but was not given a permanent ORS section number. On its face, then, the new law is not a part of ORS 250.035.

We turn to an analysis of the language and context of section 11. Part 2 of section 11 provides:

“Notwithstanding ORS 250.035, the ballot explanation for a measure proposing a new or increased tax shall contain a statement that indicates whether or not, pursuant to [216] section lib, Article XI, Oregon Constitution, and implementing legislation, the proposed tax measure would reduce property tax collections for other units of local government. The statement shall not be considered a part of the ballot explanation for purposes of determining if the explanation exceeds the 85-word limitation of ORS 250.035.” Or Laws 1991, ch 396, § 11(2).

The session law refers to a ballot “explanation,” while ORS 250.035(c) refers to a “statement * * * summarizing the measure.” The linguistic distinction is not dispositive. This court two years ago adopted the term “summary” but acknowledged that the Attorney General had long used the term “explanation” to refer to the requirements of ORS 250.035(l)(c) and that opinions of the court had used “explanation,” “statement,” and “summary” interchangeably. Deras v. Roberts, 309 Or 410, 418 n 6, 788 P2d 987 (1990). See Deras v. Roberts, 309 Or 250, 256-57 nn 7-8, 785 P2d 1045 (1990) (using terms “explanation” and “statement” interchangeably).

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Nelson v. Keisling, 830 P.2d 591, 313 Or. 212, 1992 Ore. LEXIS 82 (Or. 1992).

830 P.2d 591 (Nelson v. Keisling) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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