Effective Date of Certain Legislation

OAG 00-4 April 24, 2000 Subject: Effective Date of Certain Legislation Requested by: Robert S. Sherman Written by: Gerard R. Gerhard Syllabus: In keeping with Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the effective date of legislation passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, other than general appropriation bills, and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000. Constitutional provision construed: Constitution of Kentucky Section 55 OAGs cited: 96-19 Opinion of the Attorney General By letter of April 14, 2000, you asked, in substance, that this office advise on the effective date of legislation not involving an emergency or delayed effective date, passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. The legislature adjourned “sine die” on April 14, 2000. As discussed below, the effective date of legislation passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, other than general appropriation bills, and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000. Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides: No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become a law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed, except in cases of emergency, when, by the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each House of the General Assembly, by a yea and nay vote entered upon their journals, an act may become a law when approved by the governor, but the reasons for the emergency that justifies this action must be set out at length in the journal of each House. (Emphasis added.) “[U]ntil ninety days after the adjournment of the session,” as used in Section 55 of Kentucky’s Constitution (above), indicates that the day of adjournment (meaning the day of final adjournment for the session, termed “adjournment sine die”) is to be excluded in computing the 90 day period set forth in the above cited Constitutional provision, and that the 90th day shall be included in the period, in order that 90 full days shall have passed after adjournment of the session, before certain legislation becomes effective. See, for example, OAG 96-19. Applying the analysis described above to the 2000 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on Friday, April 14, 2000, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions: The first day of the 90 day period after the session is Saturday, April 15, 2000, and the 90th day of that period is Thursday, July 13, 2000. Accordingly, when the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment sine die of the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. It follows that legislation (except for general appropriation measures and those containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions) passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000. Albert B. Chandler III Attorney General Gerard R. Gerhard Assistant Attorney General c: John M. Spangler Reviser of Statutes Legislative Research Commission OAG 00-4 Page 3