Wilson

In these two consolidated appeals, we conclude that a portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 (1993-1994 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 1994, ch. 195) is a legally invalid legislative enactment. The portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 at issue is an appropriations measure that the defendants (collectively, the State) maintain substantively amends Proposition 99 (the 1988 tobacco tax initiative measure). As we explain, this portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 is at odds with Proposition 99 as originally enacted, and, if this part of Assembly Bill No. 816 is construed as a substantive amendment of Proposition 99, it is at odds with the reenactment rule of article IV, section 9 of the California Constitution. In light of our analysis, we affirm the judgment.

Background

Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988 (the Act), is an initiative measure approved by the voters in November 1988. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30121 et seq.; all further undesignated section references are to the Revenue and Taxation Code unless otherwise noted.) The Act imposes additional taxes on cigarette and tobacco product distributors. (§ 30123.) For example, the Act imposes an additional excise tax of 25…

concur in the opinion and the judgment.

I write separately to emphasize the speciousness of the state’s argument. The state claims that it has amended an initiative statute by passing legislation in conflict with it, a patent absurdity.

The 1988 tobacco tax initiative (the Act) specifies the percentages of the fund it creates that may be appropriated for specified purposes from its accounts. (Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 30122, 30124.) 1 The state concedes that Assembly Bill No. 816 (1993-1994 Reg. Sess.) appropriates money in amounts that exceed the percentage limitations of section 30124 without amending the section, i.e., it concedes the Legislature violated the Act. Notwithstanding, the state baldly asserts that Assembly Bill No. 816 amends the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund because it satisfies the four-fifths vote requirement of the initiative and is consistent with its purposes. (§ 30130.) The state is utterly confused on a simple point of law.

There is only one means of amending a statutory enactment. “A section of a statute may not be amended unless the section is reenacted as amended.” (Cal. Const., art. IV, § 9.) This requires that the change be shown in the *752…

In these two consolidated appeals, we conclude that a portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 (1993-1994 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 1994, ch. 195) is a legally invalid legislative enactment. The portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 at issue is an appropriations measure that the defendants (collectively, the State) maintain substantively amends Proposition 99 (the 1988 tobacco tax initiative measure). As we explain, this portion of Assembly Bill No. 816 is at odds with Proposition 99 as originally enacted, and, if this part of Assembly Bill No. 816 is construed as a substantive amendment of Proposition 99, it is at odds with the reenactment rule of article IV, section 9 of the California Constitution. In light of our analysis, we affirm the judgment.

Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988 (the Act), is an initiative measure approved by the voters in November 1988. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30121 et seq.; all further undesignated section references are to the Revenue and Taxation Code unless otherwise noted.) The Act imposes additional taxes on cigarette and tobacco product distributors. (§ 30123.) For example, the Act imposes an additional excise tax of 25…