Porter v. Hopkins
Porter v. Hopkins
Opinion of the Court
Counsel for plaintiffs in error entertain the view that Sections 15 and 16 of the statute referred to are unconstitutional because they violate Section 35 of Article II and Section 5 of Article XII of the Constitution. Section 35 was adopted in September, 1912, and provides: “For the purpose of providing compensation to workmen and their dependents, for death, injuries or occupational diseases, occasioned in the course of such workmen’s employment, laws may be passed establishing a state fund to be created by compulsory contribution thereto by employers, and administered by the state, determining the terms and conditions upon which payments shall be made therefrom, and taking away any or all rights of action or defenses from employes and employers; but no right of action shall be taken away from
The statute referred to was passed under the above provision of the constitution. By Section 13 it is provided that the following shall constitute employers subject to the provisions of the act: “1. The state and each county, city, township, incorporated village and school district therein. .2. Every person, firm, and private corporation including any public service corporation that has in service five or more workmen or operatives regularly in the same business, or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express, or implied, oral or written.” Section 14, subdivision 1, defines the terms “employe,” “workman” and “operative” in the service of the state and its said subdivisions. Section 15 requires the state and its said subdivisions to contribute to the state insurance fund in proportion to the annual expenditure of money by each for the service of persons described in Section 14, and Section 16 provides that the amount to be so contributed by the state itself and its subdivisions shall be, unless otherwise provided by law, a sum equal to one per cent, of the amount expended by the state, and for
It is contended, substantially, that the difference • in the method, by which the amount to be paid by the state and its subdivisions is ascertained from that by which the amount to be paid by all other employers is ascertained, renders Sections 15 and 16 of the act unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argue that those sections provide for a discrimination which is unauthorized by Section 35, Article II of the Constitution.
It is to be observed that the act referred to is amendatory of the act of May 31, 1911 (102 O. L., 524). The latter statute provided for the creation of a state liability board of awards which should
This court in State, ex rel, v. Creamer, 85 Ohio St., 349, in upholding the constitutionality of that statute, pointed out that it was not compulsory or coercive, but that, while it did not compel the employer and employe to operate under its provisions, inducements were held out in the enactment to facilitate and make desirable its acceptance by both. The general scheme of the law and the provisions for the collection, control and disbursement by the state, of the insurance fund provided for by its terms, were sustained as a valid exercise of the police power by the legislature, as the depositary of the legislative power of the state. After the enactment and the decision just referred to, Section 35, Article II, was adopted by the people as an amendment to the Constitution. The obvious purpose of the amendment was to empower the legislature to enlarge the scope of, and to fortify the purpose intended to be accomplished in, the original act. The section enables the legislature to pass laws “establishing a state fund to be created by compulsory contribution thereto by employers, and administered by the state, determining the terms gnd conditions upon which payments shall be made
It is argued that the employes of the state and its subdivisions are included in the occupations referred to in Section 35, and must be included within the provisions of any law with reference to their classification.
There are two complete sentences in Section 35 and each confers authority to prescribe a complete plan. The first authorizes the establishment of the state insurance fund and the determination of the terms and conditions on which payments shall be made therefrom. The second permits the classification of occupations and the distribution of the fund. The state and its subdivisions and public employes are entirely distinct from employers and employes engaged in private business occupations. It may well be doubted whether the term “occupation” can be properly applied to the duties of one
The authorities agree that a statute is general and uniform if it operates equally upon every person and locality within the circumstances covered by the act, and when a classification has a reasonable basis it is not invalid merely because not made with exactness or because in practice it may result in some inequality. Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U. S., 61; City of Cincinnati v. Steinkamp, Trustee, 54 Ohio St., 284, 295; State, ex rel., v. Creamer, 85 Ohio St., 349, 405.
It is further contended that by this statute the public funds are diverted from the purpose for which they were levied and collected, in contravention of Section 5 of Article XII of the Constitution, which provides that no tax shall be levied, except in pursuance of law; and every law imposing a tax, shall state, distinctly, the object of the same, to which only, it shall be applied. The case of State, ex rel., v. Edmondson, 89 Ohio St., 351, is cited in support of this view. In that case the law of April 2, 1908, provided for the creation of a fund by each county for the relief of its own blind. The blind fund of each of the several counties was created by levy expressly provided for by the stat
No such invalidity exists in the act we have under examination. It fixes a certain charge or debt which is to be paid by the several subdivisions named, the amount of which is to be deducted from the taxes collected before they are distributed by the proper ministerial officers. The maintenance of contingent and general funds for general purposes is provided for by statutes which are familiar. The municipal and other subdivisions are fully empowered to raise such funds. It would be wholly impracticable to specifically name in the different budgets the amount to be raised for each specific item. There are many incidental charges which are necessarily taken care of out of the funds of the character referred to as the needs arise. The fact that the amount raised does not meet the exact requirements from time to time and that some inconvenience may arise does not affect the validity of the statutory requirements. These provisions and the procedure required to be followed pursuant thereto are fully detailed in the briefs of coun
Finding no error in the record the judgments below are affirmed.
Judgments affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.