Not In Montana files legal challege to CI-97

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2006
CONTACT: Jackie Boyle 406.443-3374

Helena-- Not In Montana: Citizens Against CI-97, today filed a suit to challenge the legal sufficiency of the CI-97 initiative language.

Not In Montana, a coalition of health care advocates, seniors, firefighters, teachers, business, and others, believes the language violates the Montana constitution.

Under Montana's "single subject provision" (Article XIV of the constitution), a ballot initiative can only include one constitutional amendment. If the initiative amends more than one area of the constitution, each amendment must be voted on separately.

Constitutional Initiative 97 (CI-97), called "SOS" by supporters, affects more than one section of Montana's constitution, according to Jackie Boyle, coordinator of Not In Montana.

"CI-97 is an extremely complex, three-page document that amends at least three distinct sections of Montana's constitution," Boyle said. "Therefore, it violates our constitution's single subject provision."

First, CI-97 places a spending limit on the state budget that takes away the legislature's constitutional authority to establish necessary and appropriate budget levels for the state, Boyle said.

"Instead of the people's elected representatives determining the state budget, CI-97 gives that authority to a rigid and arbitrary formula," she said. "Due to the rigidity of the CI-97 formula, services once provided by the state may have to be covered by county and local governments. That means higher local property taxes."

The second major amendment, Boyle said, is an expansion of district court authority over the state budget. The initiative would allow district courts to create exemptions to the CI-97 spending limit. "In essence, this would allow district court judges to amend the constitution," Boyle said. "The constitution does not currently allow this."

The third major amendment in CI-97 expands the standing of out-of-state entities in state courts. CI-97 allows any person living in or doing business in Montana to sue to enforce the initiative's provisions.

The Not In Montana lawsuit has been filed in the First District Court in Helena. Attorney Jim Reynolds is representing the Not In Montana coalition.

"We believe we have a strong argument, considering the experience of the same initiative in Colorado," Boyle said.

"In 1992, when Colorado passed a measure like CI-97, the Colorado Constitution did not have a single subject provision. Last year, a coalition of Coloradans tried to amend the measure out of the constitution. But removing it completely would require several initiatives, because the Colorado constitution now has a single subject provision."

"This proves that measures like CI-97 do indeed contain multiple constitutional amendments and therefore violate the single subject provision," she said.

Colorado voters did manage to suspend their version of CI-97 for five years. Had it not been suspended, Colorado faced massive cuts in funding for basic public services such as K-12 schools, higher education, road maintenance, and human services.

CI-97, which is modeled after Colorado's measure, has qualified for Montana's November ballot.

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Not in Montana: Citizens Against CI-97 is a coalition of 30 Montana groups and hundreds of Montana individuals, representing firefighters, health care, senior citizens, business, agriculture, teachers, public employees, and labor unions.