Utah Farm Bureau Insurance Co. v. Utah Ins. Guar. Ass'n

In Utah Farm Bureau Insurance Co. v. Utah Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 564 P.2d 751, 755 n.10 (Utah 1977) the Court considered whether the Utah Insurance Guaranty Association Act, which created a legal entity designed to guarantee payment to the insureds of insolvent insurers, Utah Code Ann. 31-40-2, -6 (1974) (current version at Utah Code Ann. 31A-28-102, -106 (2003)), violated article XII, section 1 of the Utah Constitution. (Utah Farm Bureau Ins. Co., 564 P.2d at 753.) To answer the question, the Court examined how similar provisions from other states' constitutions had been interpreted, and we aligned ourselves with the following rationale: "The purpose of the constitutional prohibition against special legislation was to insure legislation, which would promote the general welfare and further statewide interest, as opposed to private concerns. The constitutional prohibition was not intended to deny the legislature the authority to grant limited corporate powers, to the entities it created, to promote a public and state purpose. If the challenged legislation does not involve the promotion of private or local interests (as condemned by the constitution); but promotes a legitimate governmental and statewide purpose, as declared by the legislature, it is not objectionable as either a special or private law." (Id. at 755 n.10.)