HAWAII INSURERS COUNCIL v. Lingle

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that the transfer of regulatory fees from agency fund to general fund converted fees to taxes in violation of the separation of powers doctrine
• explaining that the separation of powers doctrine preserves the checks and balances of our system of government where “sovereign power is divided and allocated among three co-equal branches”
• explaining that the separation of 24 ***FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER*** powers doctrine preserves the checks and balances of our system of government where “sovereign power is divided and allocated among three co-equal branches”
• emphasizing the revenue’s ultimate use in determining whether a fee amounts to a tax by asking whether it provides a general benefit to the public, of a sort often financed by a general tax
• “‘[P]olitical subdivision’ as it appears in article VIII, section 3 of the Hawai‘i Constitution refers to counties.”
• \The power of taxation is essentially a legislative power. It cannot be delegated except to municipalities which themselves exercise subordinate legislative powers.\

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).