Today's Law As Amended


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AB-117 Electrical restructuring: aggregation.(2001-2002)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 218.3 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

218.3.
 (a) “Electric service provider” means an entity that offers electrical service to customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation and includes the unregulated affiliates and subsidiaries of an electrical corporation.
(b)  “Electric service provider” means an entity that offers electrical service to customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218, but  does not include an entity that offers electrical service solely to service customer load consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 218, and does not include an electrical corporation  corporation, as defined in Section 218,  or a public agency that offers electrical service to residential and small commercial customers within its jurisdiction, or within the service territory of a local publicly owned electric utility. “Electric service provider” includes the unregulated affiliates and subsidiaries of an electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218. 
(c) “Electric service provider” does not include an independent solar energy producer, as defined in Article 3 (commencing with Section 2868) of Chapter 9 of Part 2.

SEC. 2.

 Section 331.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

331.1.
 For purposes of this chapter, “community choice aggregator” means any of the following entities, if that entity is not within the jurisdiction of a local publicly owned electric utility that provided electrical service as of January 1, 2003:
(a) Any city, county, or city and county whose governing board elects to combine the loads of its residents, businesses, and municipal facilities in a communitywide electricity buyers’ program.
(b) Any group of cities, counties, or cities and counties whose governing boards have elected to combine the loads of their programs, through the formation of a joint powers agency established under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.

SEC. 3.

 Section 366 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

366.
 (a) The commission shall take actions as needed to facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end-use customers. Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their electrical loads on a voluntary basis, provided that each customer does so by a positive written declaration. If no positive declaration is made by a customer, that customer shall continue to be served by the existing electrical corporation or its successor in interest, except aggregation by community choice aggregators, accomplished pursuant to Section 366.2.
(b) Aggregation of customer electrical load shall be authorized by the commission for all customer classes, including, but not limited, to small commercial or residential customers. Aggregation may be accomplished by private market aggregators, special districts, or on any other basis made available by market opportunities and agreeable by positive written declaration by individual consumers, except aggregation by community choice aggregators, which shall be accomplished pursuant to Section 366.2.

SEC. 4.

 Section 366.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

366.2.
 (a) (1) Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their electric loads as members of their local community with community choice aggregators.
(2) Customers may aggregate their loads through a public process with community choice aggregators, if each customer is given an opportunity to opt out of their community’s aggregation program.
(3) If a customer opts out of a community choice aggregator’s program, or has no community choice program available, that customer shall have the right to continue to be served by the existing electrical corporation or its successor in interest.
(b) If a public agency seeks to serve as a community choice aggregator, it shall offer the opportunity to purchase electricity to all residential customers within its jurisdiction.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 366, a community choice aggregator is hereby authorized to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity consumers within its boundaries to reduce transaction costs to consumers, provide consumer protections, and leverage the negotiation of contracts. However, the community choice aggregator may not aggregate electrical load if that load is served by a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 9604. A community choice aggregator may group retail electricity customers to solicit bids, broker, and contract for electricity and energy services for those customers. The community choice aggregator may enter into agreements for services to facilitate the sale and purchase of electricity and other related services. Those service agreements may be entered into by a single city or county, a city and county, or by a group of cities, cities and counties, or counties.
(2) Under community choice aggregation, customer participation may not require a positive written declaration, but all customers shall be informed of their right to opt out of the community choice aggregation program. If no negative declaration is made by a customer, that customer shall be served through the community choice aggregation program.
(3) A community choice aggregator establishing electrical load aggregation pursuant to this section shall develop an implementation plan detailing the process and consequences of aggregation. The implementation plan, and any subsequent changes to it, shall be considered and adopted at a duly noticed public hearing. The implementation plan shall contain all of the following:
(A) An organizational structure of the program, its operations, and its funding.
(B) Ratesetting and other costs to participants.
(C) Provisions for disclosure and due process in setting rates and allocating costs among participants.
(D) The methods for entering and terminating agreements with other entities.
(E) The rights and responsibilities of program participants, including, but not limited to, consumer protection procedures, credit issues, and shutoff procedures.
(F) Termination of the program.
(G) A description of the third parties that will be supplying electricity under the program, including, but not limited to, information about financial, technical, and operational capabilities.
(4) A community choice aggregator establishing electrical load aggregation shall prepare a statement of intent with the implementation plan. Any community choice load aggregation established pursuant to this section shall provide for the following:
(A) Universal access.
(B) Reliability.
(C) Equitable treatment of all classes of customers.
(D) Any requirements established by state law or by the commission concerning aggregated service.
(5) In order to determine the cost-recovery mechanism to be imposed on the community choice aggregator pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) that shall be paid by the customers of the community choice aggregator to prevent shifting of costs, the community choice aggregator shall file the implementation plan with the commission, and any other information requested by the commission that the commission determines is necessary to develop the cost-recovery mechanism in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(6) The commission shall notify any electrical corporation serving the customers proposed for aggregation that an implementation plan initiating community choice aggregation has been filed, within 10 days of the filing.
(7) Within 90 days after the community choice aggregator establishing load aggregation files its implementation plan, the commission shall certify that it has received the implementation plan, including any additional information necessary to determine a cost-recovery mechanism. After certification of receipt of the implementation plan and any additional information requested, the commission shall then provide the community choice aggregator with its findings regarding any cost recovery that must be paid by customers of the community choice aggregator to prevent a shifting of costs as provided for in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(8) No entity proposing community choice aggregation shall act to furnish electricity to electricity consumers within its boundaries until the commission determines the cost-recovery that must be paid by the customers of that proposed community choice aggregation program, as provided for in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f). The commission shall designate the earliest possible effective date for implementation of a community choice aggregation program, taking into consideration the impact on any annual procurement plan of the electrical corporation that has been approved by the commission.
(9) All electrical corporations shall cooperate fully with any community choice aggregators that investigate, pursue, or implement community choice aggregation programs. Cooperation shall include providing the entities with appropriate billing and electrical load data, including, but not limited to, data detailing electricity needs and patterns of usage, as determined by the commission, and in accordance with procedures established by the commission. Electrical corporations shall continue to provide all metering, billing, collection, and customer service to retail customers that participate in community choice aggregation programs. Bills sent by the electrical corporation to retail customers shall identify the community choice aggregator as providing the electrical energy component of the bill. The commission shall determine the terms and conditions under which the electrical corporation provides services to community choice aggregators and retail customers.
(10) (A) A city, county, or city and county that elects to implement a community choice aggregation program within its jurisdiction pursuant to this chapter shall do so by ordinance.
(B) Two or more cities, counties, or cities and counties may participate as a group in a community choice aggregation pursuant to this chapter, through a joint powers agency established pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, if each entity adopts an ordinance pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(11) Following adoption of aggregation through the ordinance described in paragraph (10), the program shall allow any retail customer to opt out and to continue to be served as a bundled service customer by the existing electrical corporation, or its successor in interest. Delivery services shall be provided at the same rates, terms, and conditions, as approved by the commission, for community choice aggregation customers and customers that have entered into a direct transaction where applicable, as determined by the commission. Once enrolled in the aggregated entity, any ratepayer that chooses to opt out within 60 days or two billing cycles of the date of enrollment may do so without penalty and shall be entitled to receive default service pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a). Customers that return to the electrical corporation for procurement services shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as are applicable to other returning direct access customers from the same class, as determined by the commission, as authorized by the commission pursuant to this code or any other provision of law. Any reentry fees to be imposed after the opt-out period specified in this paragraph, shall be approved by the commission and shall reflect the cost of reentry. The commission shall exclude any amounts previously determined and paid pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) from the cost of reentry.
(12) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing any city or any community choice retail load aggregator to restrict the ability of retail electricity customers to obtain or receive service from any authorized electric service provider in a manner consistent with law.
(13) (A) The community choice aggregator shall fully inform participating customers at least twice within two calendar months, or 60 days, in advance of the date of commencing automatic enrollment. Notifications may occur concurrently with billing cycles. Following enrollment, the aggregated entity shall fully inform participating customers for not less than two consecutive billing cycles. Notification may include, but is not limited to, direct mailings to customers, or inserts in water, sewer, or other utility bills. Any notification shall inform customers of both of the following:
(i) That they are to be automatically enrolled and that the customer has the right to opt out of the community choice aggregator without penalty.
(ii) The terms and conditions of the services offered.
(B) The community choice aggregator may request the commission to approve and order the electrical corporation to provide the notification required in subparagraph (A). If the commission orders the electrical corporation to send one or more of the notifications required pursuant to subparagraph (A) in the electrical corporation’s normally scheduled monthly billing process, the electrical corporation shall be entitled to recover from the community choice aggregator all reasonable incremental costs it incurs related to the notification or notifications. The electrical corporation shall fully cooperate with the community choice aggregator in determining the feasibility and costs associated with using the electrical corporation’s normally scheduled monthly billing process to provide one or more of the notifications required pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(C) Each notification shall also include a mechanism by which a ratepayer may opt out of community choice aggregated service. The opt out may take the form of a self-addressed return postcard indicating the customer’s election to remain with, or return to, electrical energy service provided by the electrical corporation, or another straightforward means by which the customer may elect to derive electrical energy service through the electrical corporation providing service in the area.
(14) The community choice aggregator shall register with the commission, which may require additional information to ensure compliance with basic consumer protection rules and other procedural matters.
(15) Once the community choice aggregator’s contract is signed, the community choice aggregator shall notify the applicable electrical corporation that community choice service will commence within 30 days.
(16) Once notified of a community choice aggregator program, the electrical corporation shall transfer all applicable accounts to the new supplier within a 30-day period from the date of the close of their normally scheduled monthly metering and billing process.
(17) An electrical corporation shall recover from the community choice aggregator any costs reasonably attributable to the community choice aggregator, as determined by the commission, of implementing this section, including, but not limited to, all business and information system changes, except for transaction-based costs as described in this paragraph. Any costs not reasonably attributable to a community choice aggregator shall be recovered from ratepayers, as determined by the commission. All reasonable transaction-based costs of notices, billing, metering, collections, and customer communications or other services provided to an aggregator or its customers shall be recovered from the aggregator or its customers on terms and at rates to be approved by the commission.
(18) At the request and expense of any community choice aggregator, electrical corporations shall install, maintain and calibrate metering devices at mutually agreeable locations within or adjacent to the community aggregator’s political boundaries. The electrical corporation shall read the metering devices and provide the data collected to the community aggregator at the aggregator’s expense. To the extent that the community aggregator requests a metering location that would require alteration or modification of a circuit, the electrical corporation shall only be required to alter or modify a circuit if such alteration or modification does not compromise the safety, reliability or operational flexibility of the electrical corporation’s facilities. All costs incurred to modify circuits pursuant to this paragraph, shall be born by the community aggregator.
(d) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that each retail end-use customer that has purchased power from an electrical corporation on or after February 1, 2001, should bear a fair share of the Department of Water Resources’ electricity purchase costs, as well as electricity purchase contract obligations incurred as of the effective date of the act adding this section, that are recoverable from electrical corporation customers in commission-approved rates. It is further the intent of the Legislature to prevent any shifting of recoverable costs between customers.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that this subdivision is consistent with the requirements of Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code and Section 360.5, and is therefore declaratory of existing law.
(e) A retail end-use customer that purchases electricity from a community choice aggregator pursuant to this section shall pay both of the following:
(1) A charge equivalent to the charges that would otherwise be imposed on the customer by the commission to recover bond related costs pursuant to any agreement between the commission and the Department of Water Resources pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water Code, which charge shall be payable until any obligations of the Department of Water Resources pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code are fully paid or otherwise discharged.
(2) Any additional costs of the Department of Water Resources, equal to the customer’s proportionate share of the Department of Water Resources’ estimated net unavoidable electricity purchase contract costs as determined by the commission, for the period commencing with the customer’s purchases of electricity from the community choice aggregator, through the expiration of all then existing electricity purchase contracts entered into by the Department of Water Resources.
(f) A retail end-use customer purchasing electricity from a community choice aggregator pursuant to this section shall reimburse the electrical corporation that previously served the customer for all of the following:
(1) The electrical corporation’s unrecovered past undercollections for electricity purchases, including any financing costs, attributable to that customer, that the commission lawfully determines may be recovered in rates.
(2) Any additional costs of the electrical corporation recoverable in commission-approved rates, equal to the share of the electrical corporation’s estimated net unavoidable electricity purchase contract costs attributable to the customer, as determined by the commission, for the period commencing with the customer’s purchases of electricity from the community choice aggregator, through the expiration of all then existing electricity purchase contracts entered into by the electrical corporation.
(g) (1) Any charges imposed pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be the property of the Department of Water Resources. Any charges imposed pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be the property of the electrical corporation. The commission shall establish mechanisms, including agreements with, or orders with respect to, electrical corporations necessary to ensure that charges payable pursuant to this section shall be promptly remitted to the party entitled to payment.
(2) Charges imposed pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) shall be nonbypassable.
(h) Notwithstanding Section 80110 of the Water Code, the commission shall authorize community choice aggregation only if the commission imposes a cost-recovery mechanism pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), (f), and (g). Except as provided by this subdivision, this section shall not alter the suspension by the commission of direct purchases of electricity from alternate providers other than by community choice aggregators, pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water Code.
(i) (1) The commission shall not authorize community choice aggregation until it implements a cost-recovery mechanism, consistent with subdivisions (d), (e), and (f), that is applicable to customers that elected to purchase electricity from an alternate provider between February 1, 2001, and January 1, 2003.
(2) The commission shall not authorize community choice aggregation until it submits a report certifying compliance with paragraph (1) to the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, or its successor, and the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce, or its successor.
(3) The commission shall not authorize community choice aggregation until it has adopted rules for implementing community choice aggregation.
(j) The commission shall prepare and submit to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2006, a report regarding the number of community choices aggregations, the number of customers served by community choice aggregations, third party suppliers to community choice aggregations, compliance with this section, and the overall effectiveness of community choice aggregation programs.

SEC. 5.

 Section 381.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

381.1.
 (a) No later than July 15, 2003, the commission shall establish policies and procedures by which any party, including, but not limited to, a local entity that establishes a community choice aggregation program, may apply to become administrators for cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs established pursuant to Section 381. In determining whether to approve an application to become administrators, the commission shall consider the value of program continuity and planning certainty and the value of allowing competitive opportunities for potentially new administrators. The commission shall weigh the benefits of the party’s proposed program to ensure that the program meets the following objectives:
(1) Is consistent with the goals of the existing programs established pursuant to Section 381.
(2) Advances the public interest in maximizing cost-effective electricity savings and related benefits.
(3) Accommodates the need for broader statewide or regional programs.
(b) All audit and reporting requirements established by the commission pursuant to Section 381 and other statutes shall apply to the parties chosen as administrators under this section.
(c) If a community choice aggregator is not the administrator of energy efficiency and conservation programs for which its customers are eligible, the commission shall require the administrator of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs to direct a proportional share of its approved energy efficiency program activities for which the community choice aggregator’s customers are eligible, to the community choice aggregator’s territory without regard to customer class. To the extent that energy efficiency and conservation programs are targeted to specific locations to avoid or defer transmission or distribution system upgrades, the targeted expenditures shall continue irrespective of whether the loads in those locations are served by an aggregator or by an electrical corporation. The commission shall also direct the administrator to work with the community choice aggregator, to provide advance information where appropriate about the likely impacts of energy efficiency programs and to accommodate any unique community program needs by placing more, or less, emphasis on particular approved programs to the extent that these special shifts in emphasis in no way diminish the effectiveness of broader statewide or regional programs. If the community choice aggregator proposes energy efficiency programs other than programs already approved for implementation in its territory, it shall do so under established commission policies and procedures. The commission may order an adjustment to the share of energy efficiency program activities directed to a community aggregator’s territory if necessary to ensure an equitable and cost-effective allocation of energy efficiency program activities.

SEC. 6.

 Section 394 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

394.
 (a) As used in this section, “electric service provider” means an entity that offers electrical service to customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation, but does not include an electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218, does not include an entity that offers electrical service solely to serve customer load consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 218, and does not include a public agency that offers electrical service to residential and small commercial customers within its jurisdiction, or within the service territory of a local publicly owned electric utility. “Electric service provider” includes the unregulated affiliates and subsidiaries of an electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218.
(b) Each electric service provider shall register with the commission. As a precondition to registration, the electric service provider shall provide, under oath, declaration, or affidavit, all of the following information to the commission:
(1) Legal name and any other names under which the electric service provider is doing business in California.
(2) Current telephone number.
(3) Current address.
(4) Agent for service of process.
(5) State and date of incorporation, if any.
(6) Number for a customer contact representative, or other personnel for receiving customer inquiries.
(7) Brief description of the nature of the service being provided.
(8) Disclosure of any civil, criminal, or regulatory sanctions or penalties imposed within the 10 years immediately prior to registration, against the company or any owner, partner, officer, or director of the company pursuant to any state or federal consumer protection law or regulation, and of any felony convictions of any kind against the company or any owner, partner, officer, or director of the company. In addition, each electric service provider shall furnish the commission with fingerprints for those owners, partners, officers, and managers of the electric service provider specified by any commission decision applicable to all electric service providers. The commission shall submit completed fingerprint cards to the Department of Justice. Those fingerprints shall be available for use by the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice may transmit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. The commission may use information obtained from a national criminal history record check conducted pursuant to this section to determine an electric service provider’s eligibility for registration.
(9) Proof of financial viability. The commission shall develop uniform standards for determining financial viability and shall publish those standards for public comment no later than March 31, 1998. In determining the financial viability of the electric service provider, the commission shall take into account the number of customers the potential registrant expects to serve, the number of kilowatthours of electricity it expects to provide, and any other appropriate criteria to ensure that residential and small commercial customers have adequate recourse in the event of fraud or nonperformance.
(10) Proof of technical and operational ability. The commission shall develop uniform standards for determining technical and operational capacity and shall publish those standards for public comment no later than March 31, 1998.
(c) Any registration filing approved by the commission prior to the effective date of this section which does not comply in all respects with the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 394 shall nevertheless continue in force and effect so long as within 90 days of the effective date of this section the electric service provider undertakes to supplement its registration filing to the satisfaction of the commission. Any registration that is not supplemented by the required information within the time set forth in this subdivision shall be suspended by the commission and shall not be reinstated until the commission has found the registration to be in full compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 394.
(d) Any public agency offering aggregation services as provided for in Section 366 solely to retail electric customers within its jurisdiction that has registered with the commission prior to the enactment of this section may voluntarily withdraw its registration to the extent that it is exempted from registration under this chapter.
(e) Before reentering the market, electric service providers whose registration has been revoked shall file a formal application with the commission that satisfies the requirements set forth in Section 394.1 and demonstrates the fitness and ability of the electric service provider to comply with all applicable rules of the commission.
(f) Registration with the commission is an exercise of the licensing function of the commission, and does not constitute regulation of the rates or terms and conditions of service offered by electric service providers. Nothing in this part authorizes the commission to regulate the rates or terms and conditions of service offered by electric service providers.

SEC. 7.

 Section 394.25 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

394.25.
 (a) The commission may enforce the provisions of Sections 2102, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2107, 2108, and 2114 against electric service providers as if those electric service providers were public utilities as defined in these code sections. Notwithstanding the above, nothing in this section grants the commission jurisdiction to regulate electric service providers other than as specifically set forth in this part. Electric service providers shall continue to be subject to the provisions of Sections 2111 and 2112. Upon a finding by the commission’s executive director that there is evidence to support a finding that the electric service provider has committed an act constituting grounds for suspension or revocation of registration as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 394.25, the commission shall notify the electric service provider in writing and notice an expedited hearing on the suspension or revocation of the electric service provider’s registration to be held within 30 days of the notification to the electric service provider of the executive director’s finding of evidence to support suspension or revocation of registration. The commission shall, within 45 days after holding the hearing, issue a decision on the suspension or revocation of registration, which shall be based on findings of fact and conclusions of law based on the evidence presented at the hearing. The decision shall include the findings of fact and the conclusions of law relied upon.
(b) An electric service provider may have its registration suspended or revoked, immediately or prospectively, in whole or in part, for any of the following acts:
(1) Making material misrepresentations in the course of soliciting customers, entering into service agreements with those customers, or administering those service agreements.
(2) Dishonesty, fraud, or deceit with the intent to substantially benefit the electric service provider or its employees, agents, or representatives, or to disadvantage retail electricity electric  customers.
(3) Where the commission finds that there is evidence that the electric service provider is not financially or operationally capable of providing the offered electric service.
(4) The misrepresentation of a material fact by an applicant in obtaining a registration pursuant to Section 394.
(c) Pursuant to its authority to revoke or suspend registration, the commission may suspend a registration for a specified period or revoke the registration, or in lieu of suspension or revocation, impose a moratorium on adding or soliciting additional customers. Any suspension or revocation of a registration shall require the electric service provider to cease serving customers within the boundaries of electrical  investor-owned electric  corporations, and the affected customers shall be served by the electrical corporation until the time when they may select service from another service provider. Customers shall not be liable for the payment of any early termination fees or other penalties to any electric service provider under the service agreement if the serving electric service provider’s registration is suspended or revoked.
(d) The commission shall require any electric service provider whose registration is revoked pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) to refund all of the customer credit funds that the electric service provider received from the Energy  State Energy Resources Conservation and Development  Commission pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25744 of the Public Resources Code.  paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 383.5.  The repayment of these funds shall be in addition to all other penalties and fines appropriately assessed against  the electric service provider for committing those acts under other provisions of law. All customer credit funds refunded under this subdivision shall be deposited in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund for redistribution by the Energy  State Energy Resources Conservation and Development  Commission pursuant to Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 25740) of Division 15 of the Public Resources Code.  Section 383.5.  This subdivision may not be construed to apply retroactively.
(e) If a customer of an electric service provider or a community choice aggregator is involuntarily returned to service provided by an electrical corporation, any reentry fee imposed on that customer that the commission deems is necessary to avoid imposing costs on other customers of the electrical electric  corporation shall be the obligation of the electric service provider or a community choice aggregator, except in the case of a customer returned due to default in payment or other contractual obligations or because the customer’s contract has expired. As a condition of its registration, an electric service provider or a community choice aggregator shall post a bond or demonstrate insurance sufficient to cover those reentry fees. In the event that an electric service provider becomes insolvent and is unable to discharge its obligation to pay reentry fees, the fees shall be allocated to the returning customers.
SEC. 8.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.