CA: Supreme Court orders re-regulation measure back on November ballot

AP - North County Times ^ | July 27, 2005 | AP

[calcowgirl]

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision Wednesday and ordered election officials to place an initiative that would re-regulate the state's electricity market back on the Nov. 8 special election ballot.

The justices, in a 6-0 decision, said the constitutionality of Proposition 80 could be decided after the election if it's approved by voters.

They said it was "usually more appropriate to review constitutional and other challenges to ballot propositions or initiative measures after an election" unless there was "some clear showing of invalidity."

"At this point," they added, "we cannot say that it's clear that ... the California Constitution precludes the enactment of Proposition 80 as an initiative measure."

The decision overturned a ruling last week by the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, which said that Proposition 80 was "unquestionably invalid on its face" because it would give broader powers to the Public Utilities Commission.

The appeals 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.

Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of Independent Energy Producers, one of the groups that challenged Proposition 80 in court, said his association would renew its challenge if the measure is approved by voters.

"We obviously believe the 3rd appellate court had it right, that it's unconstitutional," he said. "We think it's an unfortunate waste to have a campaign with an unconstitutional initiative."

Robin Johansen, an attorney representing Proposition 80 supporters, said the Supreme Court's decision protected the "integrity of the initiative process."

"The Legislature passed legislation similar to this initiative last year but the governor vetoed it," Johansen said. "This is precisely why the people of California adopted an initiative process."

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.

Wednesday's decision leaves the fate of one of the eight initiatives that qualified for the ballot still undecided. A Sacramento judge ruled last week that Proposition 77, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to change who draws legislative and congressional districts, couldn't be placed on the ballot.

An appeal of that decision is pending before the 3rd District Court of Appeal.

[calcowgirl]

"We think it's an unfortunate waste to have a campaign with an unconstitutional initiative."

Hard to argue with that.