Guillen

It is difficult to imagine a more Byzantine interrelationship of statutory provisions than this case presents. However, I believe that the trial court correctly found its way through the maze and interpreted the provisions in a manner that conforms to the Legislature’s obvious intent and makes sense of the statutory scheme. The trial court construed the principal section in question in the same manner that every branch of government, including the Department of Social Services itself, had construed the section until the department’s last-minute and unexplained change of heart. The interpretation now urged by the Attorney General and adopted by the majority produces a result that is not required by the language of the controlling statute and is irreconcilable with any rational explanation of the purpose behind the statute. Hence, I respectfully dissent.

The key provision, as all agree, is Welfare and Institutions Code section 11453, subdivision (c)(3) (section 11453(c)(3) or the COLA statute), as the provision read in 1998 and as it remained in 2003-2004: “In any fiscal year commencing with the 2000-01 fiscal year to the 2003-04 fiscal year, inclusive, when there is any increase…

McGUINESS, P.J.

This case turns upon the interpretation of two interrelated, oft-amended statutes. During the period from fiscal year (FY) 2000-2001 through FY 2003-2004, Welfare and Institutions Code section 11453, subdivision (c)(3) made the state's payment of cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to Cal-WORKS grants dependent each year upon California motorists' receipt of "any increase in tax relief pursuant to a separate statute, former Revenue and Taxation Code section 10754. [1] In 2003, tax offsets for motorists under Revenue and Taxation Code section 10754 were first suspended and later reinstated by executive action.

Respondents, a certified class of welfare recipients, petitioned for a writ of mandate to compel payment of a COLA they alleged was due on October 1, 2003, pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 11453. We conclude the trial court reached an incorrect interpretation of the relevant statutes and the judgment must be reversed.

California imposes an annual licensing fee on all vehicles registered in the state. (Rev. & Tax.Code, § 10751 et seq.) This fee, which is construed as a tax ( City of Los Angeles v. Riley (1936) 6 Cal.2d 621, 622 , 59 P.2d 137…

This case turns upon the interpretation of two interrelated, oft-amended statutes. During the period from fiscal year (FY) 2000-2001 through FY 2003-2004, Welfare and Institutions Code section 11453, subdivision (c)(3) made the state’s payment of cost of living adjustments (COLA’s) to CalWORK’s (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) grants dependent each year upon California motorists’ receipt of “any increase in tax relief’ pursuant to a separate statute, Revenue and Taxation Code former *933 section 10754. 1 In 2003, tax offsets for motorists under Revenue and Taxation Code section 10754 were first suspended and later reinstated by executive action.

Respondents, a certified class of welfare recipients, petitioned for a writ of mandate to compel payment of a COLA they alleged was due on October 1, 2003, pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 11453. We conclude the trial court reached an incorrect interpretation of the relevant statutes and the judgment must be reversed.

BACKGROUND

I. History of the Applicable Statutes

California imposes an annual licensing fee on all vehicles registered in the state. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 10751 et seq.)…