ยง  18.  Severability  and construction. The provisions of this article
  shall be severable, and if any court of competent jurisdiction  declares
  any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this article to be invalid,
  or its applicability to any government agency, person or circumstance is
  declared  invalid,  the  remainder  of  this  article  and  its relevant
  applicability shall not be affected.  The  provisions  of  this  article
  shall be liberally construed to give effect to the purposes thereof.