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Posted on 07/22/2005 6:10:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO – A Sacramento court ordered another initiative off California's November ballot Friday – an attempt by consumer advocates to re-regulate the state's electricity market.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that Proposition 80 was "unquestionably invalid on its face" because it would give broader powers to the Public Utilities Commission.
The court said the state constitution only allows the Legislature to increase the PUC's jurisdiction. It would take a constitutional amendment to change that requirement but Proposition 80 would only enact a statute, the justices added.
"Without such an amendment, Proposition 80 attempts to do what the voters many years ago said an initiative measure cannot do," the court said. "In other words, Proposition 80 is invalid on its face."
The proposition would re-regulate the state's electricity market, requiring electric service providers to be controlled by the PUC. It's supported by consumer advocates who believe the deregulation of California's utilities helped cause the blackouts and price manipulations that hit the state in 2000-01.
The decision was issued a day after a Sacramento Superior Court judge removed Proposition 77, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to change who draws legislative and congressional districts, from the ballot.
If those rulings stand, it would leave only six initiatives for voters to consider on Nov. 8, including Schwarzenegger's attempt to limit state spending and his measure to increase the time new teachers spend on probation.
Also still on the ballot are rival plans to cut prescription drug costs for low-income Californians and proposals that would require minors to get permission from a judge or parent to have an abortion and force public employee unions to get written permission from their members to use dues for campaign donations.
Supporters of both Proposition 77 and Proposition 80 said they would appeal to higher courts.
"We will be taking this to the state Supreme Court," said Mindy Spatt, communications director for The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group backing Proposition 80.
"Over 600,000 people signed to get this initiative on the ballot," she said. "We think the court is out of step with the people of this state."
She said TURN attempted to enact the proposal through the Legislature but the bill was vetoed by Schwarzenegger last year.
"We think this is exactly why we have an initiative process, because we went to the Legislature with this, of course, and the governor vetoed our bill," Spatt said. "It just doesn't make sense that the voters wanted to allow themselves to be trapped in one of the most mistaken policies in the history of our state without any way out."
The Independent Energy Producers of California, one of the plaintiffs in the Proposition 80 case, said the ballot measure was "poorly drafted and its flaws would have had considerable negative implications for California's electricity consumers."
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, who was the author of the re-regulation bill that Schwarzenegger vetoed, said the ruling was a "wake-up call to the governor to work with the Legislature to craft a long-term energy solution for our state."
"Other than shuffling the boxes of the state's energy bureaucracy, this administration has done little to prevent the potential of blackouts we are facing today," he said.
Schwarzenegger said in his veto message that the Nunez bill would have created a "redundant and burdensome energy procurement process that would steer the state back toward monopoly utilities" without adequate consumer protections.
same AP article also on the 'net as
Court jettison of redistricting measure deals blow to Schwarzenegger's reform plans
From the recall to the recent flood of citizen legislation the dam is bursting. Mistakes are certainly being made but that is a characteristic of mob action.
This is the basis upon which some are trying to get the "spending control" measure thrown off the ballot, too.
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Yes, we have a special breed of Judge these day, so considerate. ;-)
They like to take care of pesky littles issues for folks, so they can hit the hottubs, beaches and wine&art fairs and not have to worry about things like voting.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
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This is a huge improvement. It used to be that the judges would wait until after the people voted before declaring it null and void. Now at least they are sparing people the trouble of voting at all.