Kuchel

For many years, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (Stats. 1935, p. 1123; 2 Deering’s Gen. Laws, Act 3796) required that one-half of the amount collected by the state as fees for liquor licenses be paid to the cities and counties. In 1947, the Legislature amended the statute (Stats. 1947, ch. 712, p. 1766) to provide that the cities and the counties shall receive all of the amounts so collected. The *365 present controversy concerns the right of the state to one-half of the fees collected in 1947 to September 19th, the effective date of the new enactment.

The amendment was made by striking from the act the italicized words of section 37, which now reads as follows: 1 ‘ § 37. All moneys collected as license fees and under the excise tax provisions of this act shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, which fund is hereby created. Moneys in said fund are hereby appropriated as follows:

As the basis for the present proceeding, the city and county of San Francisco takes the position that the amendment to the act is an appropriation measure which provides for a payment to the cities and the counties in October, 1947, without regard…