By Mary Jo Pitzl | The Arizona Republic
Lawmakers combined unrelated topics in a bill last month, violating the state Constitution in two ways, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The suit takes aim at Senate Bill 1454, which passed in the legislative session’s closing rush. The legislation tacked on a number of changes to homeowners-association procedures to a bill dealing with numerous election-related measures.
Combining different topics in a bill — a tactic known as logrolling — violates the Constitution’s single-subject rule, argued attorney Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. He filed the suit in Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of two men active in homeowners associations.
The bill’s second constitutional misstep is its title, which does not accurately capture the topics addressed in the bill, the suit states. The title refers to elections and does not address homeowners-association changes.
