AGO 1989-090.

• Case Date: July 18, 1989
• Court: Kansas

Kansas Attorney General Opinions 1989. AGO 1989-090. July 18, 1989ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 89-90The Honorable Vernon L. WilliamsState Representative Ninety-First District 2402 Coolidge Avenue Wichita, Kansas 67204 Re: Constitution of the State of Kansas--Legislative--Subject and Title of Bills; 1989 House Bill No. 2454Oil and Gas--Oil and Gas Wells; Regulatory Provisions, Miscellaneous Regulatory Provisions--Transportation of Gas; Pressure; Constitutionality of 1989 House Bill No. 2454 Synopsis: 1989 House Bill No. 2454 pertaining to maintenance of natural gas pipelines and establishment of the Citizens' Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB) does not violate Art. 2, § 16 of the Kansas Constitution which prohibits a bill from containing more than one subject. Though arguably tenuous, we believe the sections addressing gas pipeline maintenance are germane to those creating a board concerned with the cost of utilities in that both are encompassed under the subject and title "relating to public utilities." As such, since the question of how the bill evolved is not relevant to the bill's constitutionality, we believe the connection sufficient to cause the courts to uphold the legislation as constitutional. Cited herein: K.S.A. 55-112, as amended by 1989 H.B. 2454; Kan. Const., Art. 2, § 16; 1989 H.B. 2454; 1989 S.B. 105; L.1982, ch. 144; L.1985, ch. 48; L.1982, ch. 282; L.1978, ch. 323. * * * Dear Representative Williams: As State Representative for the Ninety-First District, you request our opinion regarding the constitutionality of 1989 House Bill No. 2454. Specifically you inquire whether the bill contains more than one subject in contravention of Article 2, § 16 of the Kansas Constitution which provides:

"No bill shall contain more than one subject, except appropriation bills and bills for revision or codification of statutes. The subject of each bill shall be expresed in its title. No law shall be revived or amended, unless the new act contain the entire act revived or the section or sections amended, and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed. The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed to effectuate the acts of the legislature."

You indicate that 1989 House Bill No. 2454 (H.B. 2454) deals with first, the transportation or conduct of natural gas through pipelines and the maintenance of certain pipelines and second, the establishment of a new state board, the Citizens' Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB), to represent residential and small commercial customers before the Kansas Corporation Commission. You further note that the provisions establishing the CURB were originally found in 1989 Senate Bill No. 105 and were amended into H.B. 2454. The test to determine whether the one subject rule has been...