MARK A. GOLDSMITH, District Judge.
This is a civil rights case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 with pendent state law claims for violations of the Michigan Constitution. The initiating Plaintiffs are Christie Toth and the Graduate Employees Organization ("GEO"), a labor organization; the Intervenor Plaintiff is the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. The initiating Plaintiffs and the Intervenor Plaintiff are collectively referred to herein as "Plaintiffs," unless otherwise specified.
In 1981, MERC determined an unfair labor charge brought by GEO on behalf of three groups of graduate student assistants at the University of Michigan: graduate student research assistants ("GSRAs"), teaching assistants, and staff assistants. 1981 MERC Lab. Op. 777 (Dkt. 34-1). GEO argued that all three categories of graduate student assistants were "public employees" under the Public Employment Relations Act ("PERA"), Mich. Comp. Laws § 423.1 et seq., and were thus entitled to collective bargaining rights. Id. at 780. The University of Michigan opposed GEO's position. Id. MERC held that teaching assistants and staff assistants were public employees under PERA, but found that GSRAs were not public employees. Id. at 782.
In 2011, the University of Michigan, through its Board of Regents, adopted a resolution recognizing GSRAs as public employees and supporting their effort to organize. 5/19/11 Resolution (Dkt. 29-3).
GEO then moved for MERC to reconsider its decision. The Michigan Attorney General and a student group opposed to graduate student unionization filed motions to intervene. MERC Op. No. R11-D034, 2011 WL 7063731 (Dec. 16, 2011). MERC denied the motions to intervene, granted GEO's request for reconsideration, and ordered an administrative law judge ("ALJ") to conduct hearings to determine whether circumstances had changed regarding the status of GSRAs, such that MERC should reverse its 1981 decision. Id.
Prior to the ALJ conducting the administrative hearing, the Michigan Attorney General appealed MERC's order to the Michigan Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The Michigan Attorney General then appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, which affirmed the Michigan Court of Appeals' decision. Univ. of Michigan v. Graduate Emps. Org./AFT, ___ Mich. ___, 807 N.W.2d 714 (Mich. 2012). However, after granting reconsideration, MERC suspended its review of GEO's petition because, as explained below, the Michigan Legislature amended PERA to expressly exclude GSRAs from collective bargaining by passing PA 45. See Interv.'s Br. at 8 (Dkt. 32); Defs.' Resp. Br. at 5 (Dkt. 39).
In February 2011, the Michigan House of Representative passed House Bill (HB) 4246, which required public collective bargaining agreements to include a provision that allowed emergency managers to reject, modify, or terminate those agreements. 2/23/11 House Journal at 215-216 (Dkt. 34-8). As originally drafted, HB 4246 had the following relevant section:
HB 4246 at 5 (Dkt. 35-11). After passage, the House sent HB 4246 to the Senate.
This version of HB 4246 was not considered by the Michigan Senate. Instead, Senate Bill (SB) 158, which included nearly identical language, was passed by the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House of Representatives, and signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder on March 16, 2011 as Public Act 9. Enrolled Senate Bill 158 (Dkt. 34-9).
Almost a year later, on March 7, 2012, the Senate took up HB 4246, and substituted the language in it with the language from another bill, SB 971, which excluded GSRAs from the definition of "public employee." 3/7/12 Senate Journal at 327 (Dkt. 34-16); HB 4246 history at 2 (Dkt. 34-17). The substitute text of HB 4246 stated, in pertinent part:
HB 4246, as passed by the Senate on 3/7/12, at 3 (Dkt. 35-13).
After the passage of HB 4246, the Senate held a roll call vote to give the bill immediate effect. Id. at 330. Thereafter, the Senate Journal reflects protests made by various Michigan Senators. In particular, Senator Whitmer highlighted her belief that "there was nothing ... before the Senate that was in House Bill No. 4246 when it was introduced." Id. at 331. Senator Whitmer further emphasized that the Senate can "not just ram things through by entirely replacing bills with new content." Id. Senator Whitmer stated that the version of HB 4246 violated the Michigan Constitution, but the Senate nevertheless passed the legislation. Id.
After passage of amended HB 4246 by the Michigan Senate, the bill returned to the House. HB 4246 history at 2 (Dkt. 34-17). The House then passed amended HB 4246. Id. The bill was signed into law by the Governor on March 13, 2012 as PA 45. Id.
Plaintiffs filed suit a month after PA 45 became law, naming the commissioners of MERC in their official capacities as Defendants. Compl. (Dkt. 1). Initiating Plaintiffs' complaint contains two counts: an alleged violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Count I) and an
Intervenor filed its intervening complaint (Dkt. 12) soon afterward, upon stipulation of the parties (Dkt. 10), against the same Defendants. The intervening complaint originally alleged four counts: (i) violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; (ii) violation of the equal protection clause of Michigan's Constitution; (iii) violation of the change-of-purpose clause of the title-object provision of Michigan's Constitution; and (iv) violation of the "immediate effect" clause of Michigan's Constitution. After the filing of the intervening complaint, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of the "immediate effect" claim of the intervening complaint. 1/28/13 Order (Dkt. 22).
A court "shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). To withstand summary judgment, the nonmoving party must present sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact. Humenny v. Genex Corp., 390 F.3d 901, 904 (6th Cir.2004). A mere scintilla of evidence is insufficient; rather, "there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the nonmovant." Id. "After adequate time for discovery and upon motion, summary judgment is proper against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and upon which that party bears the burden of proof at trial." Kalich v. AT & T Mobility, LLC, 679 F.3d 464, 469 (6th Cir.2012) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)).
Before the Court are state and federal constitutional issues. In such a situation, the traditional judicial response is to resolve the state constitutional issues first, if, by doing so, the court can avoid resolving federal constitutional issues. For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that the state constitutional claims asserting a violation of Michigan's change-of-purpose clause are dispositive of the action and, under principles of constitutional avoidance, the Court refrains from ruling on the equal protection claims as they implicate the U.S. Constitution.
Under the doctrine of constitutional avoidance, federal courts should avoid federal constitutional determinations when a case can be resolved on other grounds. Siler v. Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co., 213 U.S. 175, 193, 29 S.Ct. 451, 53 L.Ed. 753 (1909) ("Where a case in this court can be decided without reference to questions arising under the Federal Constitution, that course is usually pursued and is not departed from without important reasons."); Tower Realty v. City of East Detroit, 196 F.2d 710, 724 (6th Cir.1952) ("It is the duty of federal courts to avoid the unnecessary decision of the constitutional questions."); United States v. Elkins, 300 F.3d 638, 647 (6th Cir.2002) ("Courts should avoid unnecessary constitutional questions."); see Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U.S. 288, 347, 56 S.Ct. 466, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring) ("It is not the habit of the court to decide questions of a constitutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case.").
The doctrine of constitutional avoidance encourages courts to avoid making a pronouncement concerning the federal constitution when a state law ground is available to decide a case. See, e.g., Hagans
Even where the state law claim is a constitutional one, that claim should be decided first to avoid the federal constitutional claim if possible. See, e.g., Allstate Ins. Co. v. Serio, 261 F.3d 143, 150 (2d Cir.2001) (explaining that courts use the doctrine of constitutional avoidance to "render decisions on federal constitutional questions unnecessary by resolving cases on the basis of state law (whether statutory or constitutional)" (citing Bell, 378 U.S. at 237, 84 S.Ct. 1814)); Hickerson v. City of New York, 932 F.Supp. 550, 555 (S.D.N.Y.1996) ("Plaintiffs raise substantial claims under the state constitution. These state constitutional claims should be determined before plaintiffs' claims under the federal constitution, because a ruling that the resolution violates the state constitution would obviate the need to decide the federal constitutional questions.").
The Court recognizes that "[i]f the germane state law questions are novel or unsettled, ... principles of federalism counsel in favor of allowing state courts, instead of federal courts, to interpret and define state law before the federal courts subject the state law to federal constitutional scrutiny." Pittman v. Cole, 267 F.3d 1269, 1285 (11th Cir.2001) (citing Serio, 261 F.3d at 149). This may be accomplished through either abstention or certification procedures, id., which no party has invoked. However, the change-of-purpose challenge is not a novel question of Michigan law. The Michigan state courts have addressed change-of-purpose challenges numerous times. See, e.g., People v. Kevorkian, 447 Mich. 436, 527 N.W.2d 714, 723 (1994); Anderson v. Oakland Cnty. Clerk, 419 Mich. 313, 353 N.W.2d 448 (1984).
Following the dictates of the constitutional avoidance doctrine, the Court considers initially Plaintiffs' claim that the Michigan Legislature violated the change-of-purpose clause of the Michigan Constitution. Because the Court finds that issue dispositive of the case, the Court refrains from ruling on the equal protection claims.
With regard to the change-of-purpose claims, Plaintiffs allege that the passage of PA 45 violated Article IV, § 24 of the Michigan Constitution, which provides:
Mich. Const. art. IV, § 24.
The Michigan Supreme Court has held that there are three kinds of challenges that may be brought pursuant to Article IV, § 24:(i) a "title-body" challenge, (ii) a "multiple-object" challenge, and (iii) a "change of purpose" challenge. Kevorkian, 527 N.W.2d at 720. In a title-body challenge, a plaintiff alleges that "the title of the act does not adequately express the content of the law." Id. In a multiple-object challenge, the plaintiff alleges that an act "contains subjects so diverse that they have no necessary connection." Twp. of Ray v. B & BS Gun Club, 226 Mich.App. 724, 575 N.W.2d 63, 67 (1997). Neither of those challenges is at issue here.
The challenge relevant to this case is the change-of-purpose challenge, where a court must examine whether "the subject matter of the amendment or substitute is germane to the original purpose" of a bill. Kevorkian, 527 N.W.2d at 723. If "changes fall within the general purpose of the original bill, or are extensions of it," courts have held the changes to be germane. Anderson, 353 N.W.2d at 454. If the changes are not within the general purpose of the original bill, the enacted legislation is void because it evaded the procedural protections mandated by the Michigan Constitution. Id.
Plaintiffs argue that PA 45's purpose was materially changed during its passage. See Pls.' Br. at 13 (Dkt. 34); Interv.'s Resp. at 17-22 (Dkt. 40). Their theory is that the purpose of HB 4246, as originally introduced in 2011, was to empower emergency financial managers to terminate or modify collective bargaining agreements with local governments and school districts, while the adopted version of the bill in 2012 had an "utterly disparate and unrelated" purpose of barring certain university graduate student employees from enjoying collective bargaining rights. Pls.' Br. at 13 (Dkt. 34). Defendants' position, as articulated in their motion for summary judgment and response briefs, is that there was no change in purpose because both versions of the bill address the subject matter of regulating collective bargaining. See Defs.' Br. at 16-20 (Dkt. 29). After reviewing the history of this constitutional provision and the pertinent cases, the Court agrees with Plaintiffs.
The constitutional protections reflected in the title-object provision found in the 1963 Constitution, including the change-of-purpose clause, go back to Michigan's 1908 Constitution:
1908 Mich. Const. art. V, § 22.
The record from the 1907-08 constitutional convention indicates that this section prohibiting a bill's change of purpose was included so "that by no possibility can the publicity secured by the five day rule [prohibiting a bill from being passed until "it has been printed and in the possession of each house" for this period of time] be nullified or evaded." State of Michigan, Journal of Constitutional Convention of 1907-08, at 1551. The record also explains that this "new section" was "inserted to prevent hasty and careless legislative action, also, to deal effectively with so called snap legislation." Id. The drafters of the 1908 Michigan Constitution believed that this provision would provide sufficient time "whereby the people may become acquainted with proposed legislation and to petition, or remonstrate, before a bill is passed. It is believed that this provision will measurably improve the tone of legislative action." Id.
In 1961, when Michigan re-wrote its Constitution, the change-of-purpose clause was retained and strengthened, to effectuate the goal of giving fair notice to the public of the legislation under contemplation. A phrase was added — "as determined by its total content and not alone by its title" — so that the change-of-purpose protection would not be eviscerated by reference to an overly broad title:
State of Michigan, Constitutional Convention of 1961, Official Record, Vol. II, at 2334-2335.
This strengthening of the change-of-purpose clause was designed to make the clause even more "air tight" in protecting against precipitous legislation, as the record of the 1961 Convention confirms:
Id. at 2335. As a commentary on the Michigan Constitution confirms, the "Constitution of 1963 added language requiring scrutiny of the content of the bill as well as its title to determine original purpose. The framers of the 1963 Constitution wanted to make sure that the public could be sure of what was before the legislature." Susan P. Fino, The Michigan State Constitution: A Reference Guide 85 (1996).
This history confirms that the change-of-purpose clause can be meaningful only if the analysis of a bill's "purpose" focuses on fair notice to the public. If identifying merely some commonality of subject matter between a bill as introduced and as enacted is sufficient to pass constitutional muster, then the change-of-purpose clause will provide no effective protection to the public at all. Instead, courts must ask whether those members of the public who are interested in, or affected by, an enactment were put on fair notice that the bill, as introduced, might impact their interests.
The Michigan courts have been faithful to the constitutional command that the Legislature give the public fair notice of the reach of legislation it contemplates adopting. In Anderson, a bill was passed by the Michigan House of Representatives to amend Michigan's election law by (i) eliminating a requirement that county clerks deliver absentee ballots to municipal clerks in school districts holding late millage elections and (ii) enacting some provisions relating to a special election on income taxes in Detroit. Anderson, 353 N.W.2d at 450. The Michigan Senate then took up the original bill, deleted the provisions relating to county clerks and Detroit income tax, and substituted language reapportioning the Legislature into 38 senatorial and 110 representative districts. Id. at 451. The Michigan Senate and House both passed the substituted version of the bill and the governor signed it into law as Public Act 256 of 1983 (PA 256). Id. at 451-452. Registered voters affected by the reapportionment filed suit, claiming that the enactment of PA 256 violated Article IV, § 24 of the Michigan Constitution; the trial court agreed. Id. at 452. After appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals was by-passed, the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed. Id. In holding that the enactment of PA 256 violated Article IV, § 24, the Michigan Supreme Court concluded that the enactment constituted "`the introduction of entirely new and different subject matter.'" Id. at 456 (quoting U.S. Gypsum Co. v. Dep't of Revenue, 363 Mich. 548, 110 N.W.2d 698, 701 (1961)). In enforcing the change-of-purpose clause, the Court explained that "[t]hese are not recent provisions. A long history underscores an intent through these requirements to preclude last-minute, hasty legislation and to provide notice to the public of legislation under consideration irrespective of legislative merit." Id. at 455.
The same concern with fair notice is found in Kevorkian, the primary case relied upon by Defendants, which rejected a change-of-purpose challenge. That case related to the passage of Public Act 270 of 1992 (PA 270), addressing assisted suicide. The bill at issue originated as HB 4501, which provided for the creation of the Michigan Commission on Death and Dying, conceived as a forum to study assisted suicide. Kevorkian, 527 N.W.2d at 719. The bill was subsequently amended by adding a section that would make it a crime to assist another in committing suicide.
The Michigan Supreme Court rejected the plaintiffs' argument that adding the criminal penalties to HB 4501 through the substitute bill "dramatically changed" the original purpose of creating the commission. Id. at 723. In doing so, the court recognized that the impetus for the change-of-purpose clause is to "preclude last-minute, hasty legislation and to provide notice to the public of legislation under consideration" and to protect the integrity of the "five-day rule." Id. (citing Anderson, 353 N.W.2d at 455). But the court found no undermining of these constitutional concerns because the subject matters of the bill, as enacted and as introduced, were intimately related. The criminal penalties "were an interim measure" that provided "a stable environment while the Commission on Death and Dying, the Legislature, and the citizenry" studied assisted suicide further. Id.
Here, the content of the enactment is entirely unrelated to the content of HB 4246 when introduced. HB 4246, as introduced, addressed the powers of an emergency manager; the final legislation does not address emergency managers at all. HB 4246, as introduced, regulated the contents of collective bargaining agreements; the final legislation says nothing about the content of collective bargaining agreements. HB 4246, as introduced, regulated local governments and school districts; the final legislation addresses the organization of graduate students at the university level. These subject matters have virtually no commonality at all.
A comparison of the language used in the two versions confirms this. HB 4246, as introduced on February 10, 2011, mandated the inclusion in local government collective bargaining agreements of a section "that allows an emergency manager appointed under the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act to reject, modify, or terminate the collective bargaining agreement as provided in the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act." HB 4246, as introduced on 2/10/11, at 5 (Dkt. 35-11). The drastically different, enacted version contains absolutely no overlap in language:
HB 4246, as passed by Senate on 3/7/2012, at 3 (Dkt. 35-13). These versions clearly address entirely different circumstances.
Defendants argue that there is some relationship between the two versions of the legislation because both address collective bargaining rights. Defs.' Br. at 19 (Dkt. 29). But this bare overlap of subject matter cannot be sufficient if the change-of-purpose clause is to have any real significance. As stressed above, the constitutional history confirms that the change-of-purpose clause can be meaningful only if the analysis of a bill's "purpose" focuses on fair notice to the public. Therefore, the question that must be asked here is: Were those members of the public who were interested in an enactment barring unionization of GSRAs fairly apprised that an earlier submitted bill on emergency manager powers would touch their interests?
In our case, a member of the public interested in the issue of unionization of GSRAs would have no reason to believe that a bill addressing the powers of emergency managers over local governments and school districts could have any impact on that issue. Emergency managers, by statute, can only be appointed over local units of government. See Mich. Comp. Laws § 141.1549(1) ("The governor may appoint an emergency manager to address a financial emergency within that local government as provided for in this act."), and § 141.1542 (defining "local government" as "a municipal government or a school district"). A member of the public concerned with union activity at the university level would hardly be alerted that their interests would be impacted by legislation targeted at local governments. Moreover, an emergency manager's power to modify or nullify a collective bargaining agreement does not implicate the issue of what group of employees may organize into a union in the first place. The focus of the former issue is rehabilitation of financially troubled units of governments, while the latter issue concerns whether a particular group of employees may organize at all. As a consequence, HB 4246 would not have reasonably alerted anyone interested in graduate student teacher unions that the bill would be the evolving vehicle for legislation affecting their interests.
Defendants' other arguments are also unavailing. Defendants contend the two bills are similar because they both amend PERA. Defs.' Br. at 19-20. While it is
Defendants further argue that it is "important" that HB 4246 was passed by both the House and Senate. Defs.' Br. at 18. However, a change-of-purpose challenge can only arise if legislation has been passed by both houses of the Legislature. Therefore, that fact does not appear to have any significance to the change-of-purpose analysis; and in any case, its significance remains unexplained by Defendants.
Defendants also think it is relevant that the issue of unionization of graduate student teachers had been receiving a good deal of publicity prior to passage of HB 4246. Defs.' Br. at 18. To substantiate this point, Defendants point only to debates on the floor. See id. (citing 3/7/12 House Journal at 333-334). However, a floor debate does not demonstrate general public awareness of an issue, nor would it satisfy the constitutional concern that the public — as distinct from legislators — have notice of impending legislation. Moreover, Defendants supply no authority holding that a court should evaluate the actual publicity that an enactment has received prior to passage as part of a change-of-purpose analysis. In fact, there is contrary authority rejecting this argument. See Anderson, 353 N.W.2d at 460 (Levin, J., concurring) (rejecting the state's argument that media publicity should be considered in conducting a change-of-purpose analysis because it would unduly "expose many enactments to judicial inquiry regarding the extent of the publicity and the adequacy of the legislative consideration"). Defendants' "publicity" argument lacks merit.
Case law undermines Defendants' position as well. Anderson is remarkably similar to our case. In Anderson, the Senate took up a bill passed by the House, swapped out the original language pertaining to absentee ballots and a special income tax election for the City of Detroit, replaced it with reapportionment language, and passed the bill. Anderson, 353 N.W.2d at 451. The House then passed the substituted version, which was signed into law. Id. at 451-452. Similarly, in the instant case, the Senate took up HB 4246, which had laid dormant for over a year, swapped out the language concerning emergency managers for the language excluding GSRAs from collective bargaining, and passed the bill. Importantly, if the Michigan Supreme Court in Anderson had believed that commonality of subject matter at any level of generality was acceptable, it could have easily rebuffed the change-of-purpose challenge, given that both the initial bill and the amended one pertained to elections. Such tangential overlap was clearly not sufficient to sustain the constitutionality of the legislation.
Similarly, Defendants' position is undermined by Kevorkian, even though they
The other authority relied upon by Defendants is similarly unpersuasive. Builders Square v. Department of Agriculture, 176 Mich.App. 494, 440 N.W.2d 639 (1989), is inapposite because it involved a multiple-object challenge, not a change-of-purpose challenge. In Builders Square, the plaintiff-corporation sought injunctive relief from having to comply with a directive issued by the Michigan Department of Agriculture enforcing the "item pricing and deceptive advertising" provisions of Mich. Comp. Laws § 445.352 The trial court granted an injunction, holding that the act in question had at least two objects. Id. The court of appeals reversed, stating that "[a]lthough dissimilar, the act's two objectives, regulation of pricing and advertising, are not so diverse in nature as to be at odds with the constitution" and that the objects were "consistent with the overall purpose, consumer protection." Id. at 641. However, the instant case does not involve a multiple-object challenge. As such, Builders Square is simply inapposite.
The legislative reality is that HB 4246, in its original design, had nothing to do with the definition of who was a public employee. Its purpose was to empower emergency managers to void or modify collective bargaining agreements at the local government and school district level. By importing language from another bill, the Legislature reincarnated HB 4246 as the legislative vehicle to prevent a particular group of employees from qualifying as public employees at the university level — a subject that has nothing to do with an emergency manager's powers in the local government and school district context.
Michigan law has long recognized the need for a thorough public airing of potential legislative enactments. The change-of-purpose clause is central to that
For the reasons explained above, the Court declares that PA 45 was enacted in violation of Article IV, § 24 of the Michigan Constitution and is, therefore, invalid and unenforceable. The Court awards summary judgment to initiating Plaintiffs on Count II of their complaint and to Intervenor on Count III of its complaint; Defendants' motion seeking summary judgment as to those counts is denied. In so ruling, the Court need not, and does not, address the equal protection claims of Count I of initiating Plaintiffs' complaint and Counts I and II of Intervenor's complaint. Therefore, the Court denies Defendants' motion for summary judgment relative to those counts as moot.
Counsel shall appear for a status conference on February 19, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. at the U.S. Courthouse, 600 Church Street, Flint, Michigan to discuss further proceedings in this case.
SO ORDERED.
5/19/11 Resolution (Dkt. 29-3) (capitalization in original).
Plaintiffs theorize that the reason SB 971 was not sent to the Governor after passage was the lack of votes in the House for immediate effect. Interv.'s Br. at 6. According to Plaintiffs, after the House passed the bill on a vote of 62-45, a motion for a roll call vote on a motion for immediate effect was recognized by the Chair. That vote was postponed indefinitely, however, because proponents believed that they could not muster the 74 votes necessary to give the measure immediate effect. Id. Plaintiffs claim that proponents of the legislation feared that, without immediate effect, SB 971 would not have been effective until sometime in 2013, by which point MERC could have allowed GSRA unionization. For this reason, proponents purportedly resorted to revising HB 4246, which had already been given immediate effect by the House in February 2011 — when it contained the language empowering emergency managers to limit or terminate collective bargaining agreements. The Senate then passed amended HB 4246, gave it immediate effect, and transmitted it to the House. The measure was then adopted by the House and no new vote on immediate effect was taken, on the theory that the 2011 "immediate effect" vote on the initial version of HB 4246 applied to the amended version. See id. at 8.
Defendants neither admit nor deny Plaintiffs' theory on the machinations of the Legislature, Defs.' Resp. Br. at 4 (Dkt. 38); Defs.' Resp. Br. at 4 (Dkt. 39), but they offer no alternative theory to explain the unusual legislative activity. While Plaintiffs' theory is not relevant to the change-of-purpose analysis, it may serve to explain why events transpired as they did.
