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If they do not act, I am a little befogged
myself to say exactly how you make them
act, but at least they are mandated in the
Constitution, and I think they will act.
I might say this to you, having dealt
with this problem with the people who are
intimately involved for the last four years,
I am pretty sure the General Assembly
will act.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: Are you not as
sure that the General Assembly would act
even if the clause were not in there?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE : 1 am sure, but I am
afraid some of our friends whose support
we need are not as sure.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot—
DELEGATE CASE: At least that is
what they say.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: Let me go back
to the word "assessment" as it appears in
line 3.
THE CHAIRMAN: In what section?
DELEGATE CHABOT: Section 8.02.
As I understand your answer to the
earlier question, that word there is used
to mean all the things involved in fixing
the tax base.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: Delegate Chabot,
you are a tax collector. I do not think of
all people in this assembly I have to ex-
plain to you the technical meaning of that
word. I would accept your definition for it
as a tax collector.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: I just wanted
to make sure that you were not limiting
it simply to fix the tax base in those areas
where it is appropriate, where it has been
used to have a different sort of meaning,
that it has whatever technical meaning it
normally has.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: It has the meaning
you and I subscribe to.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: With regard to
the entire section 8.02, in what way does
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this either empower or restrict the General
Assembly, other than the same way that
the equal protection clause may limit the
General Assembly?
DELEGATE CASE: Very simply, let us
get back to classification again. There is
nothing in the equal protection law that
would require classification. It merely
says, in effect, that if classes are made,
they have to be equal.
The point of it is that this mandate is
classification. In other words, the equal
protection clause is a protection, it is sort
of a negative thing. It says if you do some-
thing that is not fair and equal, then you
can be brought to account.
This section, carrying forward the exist-
ing provisions of Article XV, really man-
dates classification.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: Do you have
any doubt that the General Assembly in
every tax that it will pose will create
classes, as it has in fact created classes?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: I can visualize a
certain type of tax in which classes might
not be the order of the day because there
would be no reason for it, but in most of
the cases that we know of now, I would
certainly say that this would be true, there
would be classes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.
DELEGATE CHABOT: Would the ef-
fect of this provision be that in such a tax
as you have indicated you could visualize
that the General Assembly might be re-
quired to create classes, even though it
might not be appropriate?
DELEGATE CASE: A class of one.
DELEGATE SYBERT: Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: Before proceeding
with the questioning, the Chair recognizes
Delegate Ulrich on a matter of personal
privilege.
DELEGATE ULRICH: Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
On behalf of myself, Delegate Anderson,
and Delegate Neilson, we would like to
welcome to the Convention 35 students from
Andover High School, with their teacher,
Miss Ruth, and their chaperons, Mrs.
Chayet and Mrs. Griffith.
Thank you. (Applause.)
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