Garamendi

—The Insurance Commissioner of the State of California (hereinafter the commissioner) appeals from a judgment of the superior court declaring that certain provisions of Proposition 103, an initiative measure entitled the Insurance Rate Reduction and Reform Act, apply to automobile insurance policies issued under the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (hereinafter CAARP). (Ins. Code, § 11620 et seq.; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2400 et seq.) The sole issue on appeal is whether the superior court correctly ruled that the hearing procedures established by Proposition 103 (§ 1861.05, subds. (b) and (c), and §§ 1861.06 through 1861.09) apply to hearings to set rates for automobile insurance policies issued under the assigned-risk plan. For the reasons that follow, we reverse that portion of the judgment declaring that section 1861.05, subdivisions (b) and (c), and sections 1861.06 through 1861.09, inclusive, apply to hearings to set rates for automobile insurance policies issued under CAARP and affirm the judgment in all other respects.

Procedural and Factual History

Proposition 103, passed by the voters on November 8, 1988, added to the Insurance Code an article…