Time within which the Governor must act on a bill or resolution before it becomes law without his signature, Article IV, Part 3, §2

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) ~-- )-•(~- RICHARD S. COHEN ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF MAINE DEPARTMENT Qi<' THE A'l"l'ORNEY GENlmAL AUGUSTA. MAINE 04333 May 11, 1979 STEPHEN L. DZ[ - ? " JOHN S. GLEASON JOHN M. R. PATERSON ROBERT J. STOLT DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL Honorable Joseph E. Brennan Governor of Maine State House Augusta, Maine 04333 Dear Governor Brennan: You have requested an opinion on two questions con- cerning art. IV, pt. 3, § 2 of the Maine Constitution, in particular that part of the article which sets forth the time within which the Governor must act on a bill or resolution before it becomes law without his signature. The article provides in relevant part: "I£ the bill or resolution shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall have the same force and effect, as if he had signed it . . . . 11 Your questions are: 1) whethe.r the day on which a bill or resolution is presented to the Governor is excluded from the computation of the ten days, and 2) whether legal holidays are, like Sundays, excepted from the computation of the ten days. Our research leads us to conclude that the day of presentation is to be excluded from the computation of the ten days, and that legal holidays are to be included. The bases for these conclusions are discussed below. The~e is no Maine case construing this constitutional provision. Nonetheless, judicial interpretations of similar provisions strongly support the conclusion that the day of presentation is not to be counted as one of the ten days. aonorable Joseph E. Brennan l?age 2 May 11, 1979 In construing another constitutionally-provided time period commencing "after" an event, the Court said: 11 ••• The words of the constitution suspending the effect of a legislative act are these: 'No act ... shall take effect until ninety days after the recess of the legislature passing it' etc .... The Legislature of 1917 adjourned April 7. Therefore the period of suspension ends at the expiration of ninety days after April 7th. A full period of ninety days is provided for. If it was a period of 10 days, it would expire on midnight April 17. As it is ninety days it expi·red by the same method of computation at midnight on July 6, 1917." · Opinion of the Justices, 116 Me. 557 (1917) (emphasis added) 'l:'he 'method of computation"· quite clearly requires that the counting of the period of time begins at 12:01 a.m. of the day ~allowing the day on which the act or event, "after" which the time period begins to run, took place. Maine cases construing statutory time periods similar in operation to this constitutional period consistently exclude the day of the initiating act or event. See, e.g. Page v. Weymouth, 47 Me. 238 (1859); Oatman v. Walker, 33 Me. 67 (1851); !!'lint v. Sawyer, 30 Me. 229 (1849); Tuttle v. Gates, 24 Me. 398 (1844); Homes v. Smith, 16 Me. 183 (1839); Eaton v. Emerson, .l..4 Me. 340 (1837) Wing v. Davis, 7 Me. 33 (1830) ;_ Windsor v. China, 4 Me. 298 (1826). See also Bigelow v. Wilson, 1 P:i;ck. 485 (Mass., 1823). The reasons given for exclusion include the evident intention that the full period of time be given; t:.he fiction that the legal· "day" is indivisible, thus nothing <:::an occur "after" a day until that day has expired; and the \..ii-'iew that "after" is a term of exclusion. We note that the S3eneral statutory rule of construction regarding computation of t:..ime pe1.·iods related to civil or criminal actions or other :iudicial proceedings, 5 M.R.S.A. § 71(.12), requires computation c:lil.ccording to Rule 6(a), M.R. Civ. Pro. and Rule 45(a), M.R. Crim. :£:l!,ro.; these rules· exclude the day·on which the initiating act is cl.one or to be done. See also opinions of the Maine Attorney G:eneral, 1951-,54 Attorney General's Report 47; 1~63-64 A~torney G:eneral's Report 64. on these bases, we feel quite confident Honorable Joseph E. Brennan Page 3 May 11, 1979 in concluding that the day of presentation is to be·excluded in computing the ten-day period within which the Governor must act under art. IV, pt. 3, § 2. Regarding your second question, the express language of art IV, pt. 3, § 2, leads us to conclude that legal holidays, other than Sundays, are not excluded from the ten-day period. Under fundamental rules of constitutional law, where the constitution explicitly provides for a subject, there is no basis for extension·, alteration or detraction by legislative act. Jones v. Me. State Highway Comm'n., 238 Me. 226 (1968); Opinion of the Justices, 133 A. 265 (1926). By analogy, an explicit constitutional provision may not be extended by implication or other interpretive act. Since art. IV, pt. 3, § 2 explicitly excludes Sundays from the ten-day computation ( 11 Sundays excepted 11 ) , the exception cannot be extended to encompass other legal holidays. I trust this opinion is responsive to your inquiry. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. i~cere 11? A RDS~ Attorney General RSC:mfe