Pennsylvania Advisory Opinions April 06, 1938: AGO 243 (April 06, 1938)

Advisory Opinion Text

Public employes—Political assessments—Acts of June 13, 1883, and July 15, 1897—Repeal by Election Code of June 3, 1937, sec. 1901—Constitutionality of repealer—Sufficiency of title.

1. Section 1901 of the Pennsylvania Election Code of June 3, 1937, P. L. 1333, is unconstitutional and void insofar as it purports to repeal the Acts of June 13, 1883, P. L. 96, and July 15, 1897, P. L. 275, which prohibit the collection of political assessments from public employes, in that the title to of Act of 1937 does not sufficiently indicate that it deals with political assessments.

2. The subject of political assessments is not one germane to the general subject of elections.

Honorable David L. Lawrence, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Sir: It has come to our attention that a portion of section 1901 of the recently adopted Pennsylvania Election Code of June 3, 1937, P. L. 1333; (25 PS 2601) has given rise in some quarters to the impression that it has effected a repeal of the Acts of June 13, 1883, P. L. 96 (18 PS 1741), and July 15, 1897, P. L. 275 (18 PS 1743), which prohibit the collection of political assessments from public employes. In view of this fact, and because you, as Secretary of the Commonwealth, are the chief election official of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we have deemed it our duty to advise you that the aforesaid statutes are in full force and effect at the present time.

Section 1901 of the Pennsylvania Election Code reads, in part, as follows:

The following acts and parts of acts of Assembly are hereby repealed as particularly set forth;

The act approved the thirteenth day of June, one thousand eight "hundred and eighty-three (Pamphlet Laws, ninety-six), entitled "An act to prohibit political parties, committees, or members thereof from assessing upon or demanding from public officials contributions for political purposes, in the several counties of this Commonwealth," absolutely.

The act approved the fifteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven (Pamphlet Laws, two hundred seventy-five), entitled "An act to prohibit assessments of and demands for contributions from the officers and employes of this Commonwealth, and of any county or city therein, and providing penalties therefor," absolutely.

These provisions were clearly designed to effect a repeal of the long-existing statutes prohibiting the collection of political assessments from public employes. However, because of certain provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the above-quoted portions of section 1901 of the Pennsylvania Election Code are rendered ineffective.

Article III, section 3, of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides that:

No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title.

It is too well established to require any citations of authority that one of the purposes of this constitutional provision was to require that the title of contemplated legislation should give notice of its nature to the members of the legislature and others who might be interested. Thus it prevents legislation upon unknown and alien subjects which might be hidden within the provisions of a bill.

The title to the Pennsylvania Election Code provides as follows:

An act concerning elections, including general, municipal, special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates, primary and election expenses and election contests; creating and defining membership of county boards of elections; imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth, courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners; imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying, revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to elections.

This title contains absolutely no reference to political assessments, nor are those matters germane to the general subject of elections. The only part of this title which has any connection with the repeal of legislation is that portion which states that the statute repeals "certain acts and parts of acts relating to elections." It may be argued that this portion of the title should stimulate an inquiring mind to deduce that the statute described might include a repeal of legislation prohibiting political assessments. Such a conclusion, however, would require an extremely strained construction of the provisions of the title, and inferences which must be drawn from knowledge dehors the language used in a title may not be relied upon to validate it.

Political assessments are customarily imposed, collected and expended for a great variety of purposes, none of which may have any substantial connection with the general subject of elections. It is true, of course, that elections are always accompanied by campaigns and that political assessments are usually disbursed in payment of campaign expenses, but this fact certainly does not link political assessments and elections together as a single subject. The complete lack of identity between political assessments and elections is emphasized by the respective titles of the acts of 1883 and 1897, supra, which titles have been quoted above. Each of those titles is as silent with respect to elections as the title of the Pennsylvania Election Code is silent concerning political assessments.

It is our opinion that in so far as section 1901 of the Pennsylvania Election Code purports to repeal legislation prohibiting political assessments, its title is so misleading that neither the members of the legislature nor others interested in the bill were adequately advised of the repeal of such unrelated legislation. The seriousness of this defect in the title of the election code is emphasized by the fact that section 1901 contains more than two hundred paragraphs repealing acts and parts of acts relating to elections, and extends over approximately forty pages in the pamphlet laws.

It might be pointed out that even if the title of the Pennsylvania Election Code did contain an indication that legislation prohibiting political assessments was repealed by the act, its constitutionality would be extremely doubtful. Article III, section 3, of the Pennsylvania Constitution quoted above prohibits the passage of bills containing more than one subject, and, since elections and political assessments are separate and distinct matters, a statute purporting to deal with both of them would be unconstitutional as a whole.

You are advised, therefore, that the Acts of June 13, 1883, P. L. 96 (18 PS 1741), and July 15, 1897, P. L. 275 (18 PS 1743), which prohibit the collection of political assessments from public employes, are still in full force and effect, and that the provisions of section 1901 of the Pennsylvania Election Code of June 3, 1937, P. L. 1333, which purport to repeal said statutes, are unconstitutional and void.

Very truly yours,

Department of Justice,

Charles J. Margiotti, Attorney General.