## Facts

- The Washington Legislature enacted Laws of 1997, ch. 220, authorizing a public-private plan to construct and finance a new football and soccer stadium and exhibition center tied to keeping the Seattle Seahawks in Washington.
- A private entity, Football Northwest, held an option to purchase the Seahawks and indicated it would not exercise the option unless the legislation was enacted before the option’s expiration.
- The Legislature referred substantial portions of the act (sections 101–604) to voters as Referendum 48, which authorized counties meeting specified criteria to create a public stadium authority and to negotiate with a professional football team or affiliated entity.
- Some provisions were not submitted to the voters, including provisions addressing the Legislature’s stated neutrality about value, reimbursement of special election costs by a “team affiliate,” and an emergency clause making certain provisions immediately effective.
- Jordan Brower, a voter and taxpayer, sued the State, the Secretary of State, and Football Northwest seeking to enjoin the referendum and invalidate the act on state constitutional grounds.
- The election proceeded and Referendum 48 was approved; the trial court later granted summary judgment to the State and Football Northwest.
- Brower sought direct review; the Washington Supreme Court affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether conditioning the act’s effectiveness (including the special referendum) on a private “team affiliate” reimbursing election costs was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power or otherwise invalid under state constitutional constraints on lawmaking and referendum procedures.
2. Whether the act violated Washington’s single-subject and title requirements (Wash. Const. art. II, § 19).
3. Whether the act’s emergency clause was invalid, and, if so, what effect that would have on the referendum and reimbursement provisions.
4. Whether the act constituted unconstitutional special legislation or created an impermissible wealth-based classification burdening political rights.

## Decision

- The Washington Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the State and Football Northwest and upheld the act and Referendum 48 in all material respects.
- The court held that requiring a team affiliate to reimburse special election costs functioned as a permissible condition precedent, not a delegation of legislative power.
- The court held the act satisfied the single-subject and title requirements because its provisions were rationally related to the unified purpose of constructing and financing stadium facilities through a public-private arrangement.
- The court upheld the emergency clause as within legislative authority to determine exigency and found it did not impair the people’s referendum power because the Legislature in fact referred the core portions to voters.
- The court rejected special-legislation and equal-protection challenges, finding the statutory classifications were rationally related to the legislative purpose and did not impose an unconstitutional voting-rights restriction.
- The court relied substantially on prior precedent upholding similar stadium-financing legislation.

## Legal Principles

- A legislature may condition the operation or effectiveness of a statute on the occurrence of a future event, including private conduct, when the legislature has made the fundamental policy choices and the condition operates as a trigger rather than a transfer of lawmaking authority.
- Under Washington’s single-subject rule and title requirement, an act is valid when its provisions are rationally related to a single general subject and constitute means or details implementing that subject.
- An emergency clause is generally sustained when the legislature could reasonably determine immediate effectiveness is necessary under constitutional standards governing emergency legislation, particularly where reserved popular lawmaking powers are not eliminated.
- A statute is not unconstitutional special legislation where it applies to a class defined by criteria reasonably related to the law’s objective; rational-basis review applies to such classifications absent a demonstrated infringement of protected voting rights.

## Conclusion

The Washington Supreme Court upheld the stadium-financing legislation and Referendum 48, concluding that the private reimbursement requirement was a valid statutory condition, the act complied with the single-subject and title rules, the emergency clause was permissible, and the law did not constitute unlawful special legislation or an unconstitutional wealth-based restriction on political rights.


Brower v. State, 969 P.2d 42 (Wash. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1088 (1999)