ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Supreme Court of Alaska (2023)
Olivia Wagner
In Taylor v. Alaska Legislative Affairs Agency, 529 P.3d 1146 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that the attorney general’s common law powers do not allow suit against the legislature. (Id. at 1158). On June 16, 2021, the Alaska Legislature passed a budget bill to fund state government during the 2022 fiscal year. (Id. at 1149). Under Alaska statute, the bill would have become effective after 90 days, after the start of the new fiscal year, thereby forcing a government shutdown. (Id.). To avoid this, the bill included a provision that would give it effect on June 30, 2021, but the provision failed in the House of Representatives. (Id.). The legislature believed that the governor could use funds from a prior appropriation to operate the government and avoid a shutdown, but the attorney general opined that such a course would violate the Alaska constitution. (Id. at 1150). The attorney general then filed suit against the Legislative Affairs Agency and asked for a declaratory judgement that the expenditure of state funds without an effective appropriation was unlawful. (Id. at 1151). The Legislative Affairs agency argued that article III, section 16 of the Alaska Constitution barred the attorney general’s suit as an action brought “in the name of the State” and “against the legislature.” (Id.). The supreme court affirmed the lower court’s decision, reasoning that the language of article III, section 16 prohibits actions brought in the name of the state against the legislature. (Id. at 1156). The court further reasoned that because the suit tested the basic constitutional structure of Alaska’s government, it aimed beyond the Legislative Affairs Agency’s planning decisions and instead targeted the legislature itself. (Id. at 1158). Because the attorney general is the head of a principal executive department and under the supervision of the Governor, an attorney general’s suit is essentially a suit by the Governor in the name of the state. (Id. at 1155). Affirming the lower court’s decision, the supreme court held that that the attorney general’s common law powers do not allow suit against the legislature. (Id. at 1158).
