Jay Hessey v. Valerie K. Burden

TERRY, Associate Judge: This case comes before this court for a second time on the question of whether the proposed Taxpayers' Right to Know Act
qualifies as a "proper subject of initiative" under D.C. Code § 1-1320 (b) (1992). In Hessey v. Burden, 584 A.2d
1 (D.C. 1990) ("Hessey I") we considered two challenges to the proposed initiative -- the only two that were before us - and
reversed a trial court decision sustaining those challenges. Now, after further proceedings, the case is here once again.
On this second appeal we must first untangle the procedural knots in which the parties, including the Board, have ensnared
this case. We then turn to questions of standing and ripeness. Finally, after considering the merits, we hold that the trial
court erred in ruling that the proposed Taxpayers' Right to Know Act is not a proper subject of initiative. We therefore reverse
in part the trial court's decision in No. 92-126, and we remand No. 92-172 to the trial court for an evaluation of whether
the Board of Elections' summary statement, short title, and legislative form are proper.