BILL NUMBER: SB 611 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 14, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 8, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 15, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Sections 101 and 110 of, and to add
Section 203.5 to, the Business and Professions Code, and to amend
Sections 309.5, 402, 409, 1731, 1756,
and 5900 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public
Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 611, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: Division of
Ratepayer Advocates.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities, as defined.
Existing law establishes the Division of Ratepayer Advocates within
the commission to represent the interests of public utility customers
and subscribers, with the goal of obtaining the lowest possible rate
for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels.
Existing law requires the Director of the Division of Ratepayer
Advocates to submit an annual budget to the commission for final
approval. Existing law authorizes the director of the division
to appoint a lead attorney to represent the division and requires all
attorneys assigned by the Public Utilities Commission to perform
services for the division to report to and be directed by the lead
attorney for the division.
This bill would rename the Division of Ratepayer Advocates the
Office of Ratepayer Advocates, would transfer the office to
the Department of Consumer Affairs, would authorize the
office to seek rehearings and judicial review of commission
decisions, and would require that the director of the office develop
a budget for the office that would be submitted to the Department of
Finance for final approval. The bill would require the lead
attorney to obtain adequate legal personnel for the work
to be conducted by the office from the Public Utilities Commission's
attorney and requires the Public Utilities Commission's attorney to
timely and appropriately fulfill all requests for legal personnel
made by the lead attorney for the office, provided the office has
sufficient moneys and positions in its budget for the
services requested. The bill would make other conforming changes.
Existing law establishes the Public Utilities Commission Utilities
Reimbursement Account and authorizes the commission to annually
determine a fee to be paid by every public utility providing service
directly to customers or subscribers and subject to the jurisdiction
of the commission, except for a railroad corporation. The commission
is required to establish the fee, with the approval of the Department
of Finance, to produce a total amount equal to that amount
established in the authorized commission budget for the same year,
and an appropriate reserve to regulate public utilities, less
specified sources of funding. Existing law provides for the Public
Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account in the General Fund
and requires that money from the Public Utilities Commission
Utilities Reimbursement Account be transferred in the annual Budget
Act to the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account for
performance of the duties of the division.
This bill would require the commission to continue to collect
moneys through Public Utilities Commission reimbursement fees for the
support of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates in the amounts
authorized by the Department of Finance. The bill would provide that
moneys collected for the support of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates
be paid into the Office of Ratepayer Advocates Special Fund Account,
which the bill would create in the existing Consumer Affairs Fund.
The bill would provide that moneys in the account would be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, only for use by the Office of
Ratepayer Advocates in performing its assigned functions and that
moneys in the account are held in trust on behalf of the public
utility ratepayers from whom the moneys were collected and may not be
appropriated, or in any other manner transferred or otherwise
diverted, to any other fund or entity.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 101 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
101. The department is comprised of:
(a) The Dental Board of California.
(b) The Medical Board of California.
(c) The State Board of Optometry.
(d) The California State Board of Pharmacy.
(e) The Veterinary Medical Board.
(f) The California Board of Accountancy.
(g) The California Architects Board.
(h) The Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology.
(i) The Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
(j) The Contractors' State License Board.
(k) The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
(l) The Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home
Furnishings, and Thermal Insulation.
(m) The Board of Registered Nursing.
(n) The Board of Behavioral Sciences.
(o) The State Athletic Commission.
(p) The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
(q) The State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind.
(r) The Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
(s) The Court Reporters Board of California.
(t) The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians.
(u) The Landscape Architects Technical Committee.
(v) The Division of Investigation.
(w) The Bureau of Automotive Repair.
(x) The Respiratory Care Board of California.
(y) The Acupuncture Board.
(z) The Board of Psychology.
(aa) The California Board of Podiatric Medicine.
(ab) The Physical Therapy Board of California.
(ac) The Arbitration Review Program.
(ad) The Physician Assistant Committee.
(ae) The Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board.
(af) The California Board of Occupational Therapy.
(ag) The Osteopathic Medical Board of California.
(ah) The Naturopathic Medicine Committee.
(ai) The Dental Hygiene Committee of California.
(aj) The Professional Fiduciaries Bureau.
(ak) The Office of Ratepayer Advocates.
(al) Any other boards, offices, or officers subject to its
jurisdiction by law.
SEC. 2. Section 110 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
110. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the department
shall have possession and control of all records, books, papers,
offices, equipment, supplies, funds, appropriations, land and other
property--real or personal--now or hereafter held for the benefit or
use of all of the bodies, offices or officers comprising the
department. The title to all property held by any of these bodies,
offices or officers for the use and benefit of the state, is vested
in the State of California to be held in the possession of the
department. Except as authorized by a board, the department shall not
have the possession and control of examination questions prior to
submission to applicants at scheduled examinations.
(b) The Office of Ratepayer Advocates shall have possession and
control of all records, books, papers, offices, equipment, supplies,
funds, appropriations, land and other property, real or personal, now
or hereafter held for the benefit or use of the office. The title to
all property held by the Office of Ratepayer Advocates is vested in
the State of California in trust on behalf of the ratepayers of the
state's public utilities, to be held in the possession of the office.
The records of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates are subject to
Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 3. Section 203.5 is added to the Business
and Professions Code, to read:
203.5. Within the Consumer Affairs Fund there is hereby created
the Office of Ratepayer Advocates Special Fund Account. Moneys in the
account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
only for use by the Office of Ratepayer Advocates in performing its
functions pursuant to Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code.
Moneys in the account are held in trust on behalf of the public
utility ratepayers from whom the moneys were collected and may not be
appropriated, or in any other manner transferred or otherwise
diverted, to any other fund or entity.
SEC. 4. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
309.5. (a) There is, within the Department of Consumer Affairs,
an Office of Ratepayer Advocates to represent and advocate on behalf
of the interests of public utility customers and subscribers within
the jurisdiction of the commission. The goal of the office shall be
to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with
reliable and safe service levels. For revenue allocation and rate
design matters, the office shall primarily consider the interests of
residential and small commercial customers. The office may seek
rehearing and judicial review of commission decisions pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 1731) and Article 3 (commencing
with Section 1756) of Chapter 9.
(b) The director of the office shall be appointed by, and serve at
the pleasure of, the Governor, subject to confirmation by the
Senate.
The director shall annually appear before the appropriate policy
committees of the Assembly and the Senate to report on the activities
of the office.
(c) The director shall develop a budget for the office which shall
be subject to final approval of the Department of Finance. As
authorized in the approved budget, the office shall employ personnel
and resources, including attorneys and other legal support staff at a
level sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber interests
are effectively represented in all significant proceedings. The
office may employ experts necessary to carry out its functions. The
director may appoint a lead attorney who shall represent the office,
and shall report to and serve at the pleasure of the director. All
attorneys performing services for the office shall report to and be
directed by the lead attorney appointed by the director.
(d) The commission shall develop appropriate procedures to ensure
that the existence of the office does not create a conflict of roles
for any employee. The procedures shall include, but shall not be
limited to, the development of a code of conduct and procedures for
ensuring that advocates and their representatives on a particular
case or proceeding are not advising decisionmakers on the same case
or proceeding.
(e) The office may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from any entity
regulated by the commission, provided that any objections to any
request for information shall be decided in writing by the assigned
commissioner or by the commission, if there is no assigned
commissioner.
(f) The commission shall continue to collect moneys pursuant to
Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 401) for the support of the
Office of Ratepayer Advocates in the amounts authorized by the
Department of Finance. Moneys from the Public Utilities Commission
Utilities Reimbursement Account in the General Fund shall be
transferred in the annual Budget Act to the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates Special Fund Account in the Consumer Affairs Fund. The
funds in the Office of Ratepayer Advocates Special Fund Account shall
be utilized exclusively by the office in the performance of its
duties as determined by the director. The director shall annually
submit a staffing report to the Director of Finance containing a
comparison of the staffing levels for each five-year period.
(g) On or before January 10 of each year, the office shall provide
to the chairperson of the fiscal committee of each house of the
Legislature and to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee all of the
following information:
(1) The number of personnel years utilized during the prior year
by the Office of Ratepayer Advocates.
(2) The total dollars expended by the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates in the prior year, the estimated total dollars expended in
the current year, and the total dollars proposed for appropriation in
the following budget year.
(3) Workload standards and measures for the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates.
(h) The office shall meet and confer in an informal setting with a
regulated entity prior to issuing a report or pleading to the
commission regarding alleged misconduct, or a violation of a law or a
commission rule or order, raised by the office in a complaint. The
meet and confer process shall be utilized in good faith to reach
agreement on issues raised by the office regarding any regulated
entity in the complaint proceeding.
SECTION 1. Section 309.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
309.5. (a) There is within the commission a Division
an independent Office of Ratepayer Advocates to
represent and advocate on behalf of the interests of public utility
customers and subscribers within the jurisdiction of the commission.
The goal of the division office shall
be to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with
reliable and safe service levels. For revenue allocation and rate
design matters, the division office
shall primarily consider the interests of residential and small
commercial customers. The office may seek rehearing and judicial
review of commission decisions pursuant to Article 2 (commencing
with Section 1731) and Article 3 (commencing with Section 1756) of
Chapter 9.
(b) The director of the division office
shall be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the
Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The director shall annually appear before the appropriate policy
committees of the Assembly and the Senate to report on the activities
of the division. office.
(c) The director shall develop a budget for the division
which office that shall be subject to final
approval of the commission. In accordance with
Department of Finance. As authorized in the approved
budget, the commission shall, by rule or order, provide for
the assignment of personnel to, and the functioning of, the division.
The division may office shall employ
experts necessary to carry out its functions. Personnel
personnel and resources, including attorneys and other
legal support, shall be provided by the commission to the
division support staff, at a level sufficient to
ensure that customer and subscriber interests are effectively
represented in all significant proceedings. The office may
employ experts necessary to carry out its functions. The
director may appoint a lead attorney who shall represent the
division, office, and shall report to and serve
at the pleasure of the director. All attorneys assigned
The lead attorney for the office shall obtain adequate
legal personnel for the work to be conducted by the
commission office from the commission's attorney
appointed pursuant to perform services for the
division Section 307. The commission's attorney
shall report to timely and be
directed appropriately fulfill all requests for legal
personnel made by the lead attorney appointed by
for the director. office,
provided the office has sufficient moneys and posit ions
in its budget for the services requested.
(d) The commission shall develop appropriate procedures to ensure
that the existence of the division office
does not create a conflict of roles for any employee. The
procedures shall include, but shall not be limited to, the
development of a code of conduct and procedures for ensuring that
advocates and their representatives on a particular case or
proceeding are not advising decisionmakers on the same case or
proceeding.
(e) The division office may compel
the production or disclosure of any information it deems necessary to
perform its duties from any entity regulated by the commission,
provided that any objections to any request for information shall be
decided in writing by the assigned commissioner or by the president
of the commission, if there is no assigned commissioner.
(f) There is hereby created the Public Utilities Commission
Ratepayer Advocate Account in the General Fund. Moneys from the
Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the
General Fund shall be transferred in the annual Budget Act to the
Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account. The funds in
the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account shall be
a budgetary program fund administered and utilized
exclusively by the division office in
the performance of its duties as determined by the director. The
director shall annually submit a staffing report containing a
comparison of the staffing levels for each five-year period.
(g) On or before January 10 of each year, the commission
office shall provide to the chairperson of the
fiscal committee of each house of the Legislature and to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee all of the following information:
(1) The number of personnel years assigned to
utilized during the Division prior
year by the Office of Ratepayer Advocates.
(2) The total dollars expended by the Division
Office of Ratepayer Advocates in the prior year, the
estimated total dollars expended in the current year, and the total
dollars proposed for appropriation in the following budget year.
(3) Workload standards and measures for the Division
Off ice of Ratepayer Advocates.
(h) The division office shall meet
and confer in an informal setting with a regulated entity prior to
issuing a report or pleading to the commission regarding alleged
misconduct, or a violation of a law or a commission rule or order,
raised by the division office in a
complaint. The meet and confer process shall be utilized in good
faith to reach agreement on issues raised by the division
office regarding any regulated entity in the
complaint proceeding.
SEC. 5. Section 402 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
402. The Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement
Account is hereby continued in existence. All fees collected by the
commission pursuant to Section 431 shall be transmitted to the
Treasurer at least quarterly for deposit in the account or the Office
of Ratepayer Advocates Special Fund Account within the Consumer
Affairs Fund.
SEC. 6. Section 409 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
409. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all fees and
charges collected pursuant to this code by the commission from each
public utility subject to Section 431, with the exception of any
penalty collected pursuant to Section 405 or 406, shall be deposited
in the Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account,
in addition to the fee authorized by Section 431, or in the Office of
Ratepayer Advocates Special Fund Account within the Consumer Affairs
Fund.
(b) A penalty collected pursuant to Section 405 or 406 shall be
deposited in the General Fund.
SEC. 7. SEC. 2. Section 1731 of the
Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
1731. (a) The commission shall set an effective date when issuing
an order or decision. The commission may set the effective date of
an order or decision prior to the date of issuance of the order or
decision.
(b) (1) After any order or decision has been made by the
commission, any party to the action or proceeding, including the
Office of Ratepayer Advocates, or any stockholder or bondholder or
other party pecuniarily interested in the public utility affected,
may apply for a rehearing in respect to any matters determined in the
action or proceeding and specified in the application for rehearing.
The commission may grant and hold a rehearing on those matters, if
in its judgment sufficient reason is made to appear. No cause of
action arising out of any order or decision of the commission shall
accrue in any court to any corporation or person unless the
corporation or person has filed an application to the commission for
a rehearing within 30 days after the date of issuance or within 10
days after the date of issuance in the case of an order issued
pursuant to either Article 5 (commencing with Section 816) or Article
6 (commencing with Section 851) of Chapter 4 relating to security
transactions and the transfer or encumbrance of utility property.
(2) The commission shall notify the parties of the issuance of an
order or decision by either mail or electronic transmission.
Notification of the parties may be accomplished by one of the
following methods:
(A) Mailing the order or decision to the parties to the action or
proceeding.
(B) If a party to an action or proceeding consents in advance to
receive notice of any order or decision related to the action or
proceeding by electronic mail address, notification of the party may
be accomplished by transmitting an electronic copy of the official
version of the order or decision to the party if the party has
provided an electronic mail address to the commission.
(C) If a party to an action or proceeding consents in advance to
receive notice of any order or decision related to the action or
proceeding by electronic mail address, notification of the party may
be accomplished by transmitting a link to an Internet Web site where
the official version of the order or decision is readily available to
the party if the party has provided an electronic mail address to
the commission.
(3) For the purposes of this article, "date of issuance" means the
mailing or electronic transmission date that is stamped on the
official version of the order or decision.
(c) No cause of action arising out of any order or decision of the
commission construing, applying, or implementing the provisions of
Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the 2001-02 First Extraordinary Session
that (1) relates to the determination or implementation of the
department's revenue requirements, or the establishment or
implementation of bond or power charges necessary to recover those
revenue requirements, or (2) in the sole determination of the
Department of Water Resources, the expedited review of order or
decision of the commission is necessary or desirable, for the
maintenance of any credit ratings on any bonds or notes of the
department issued pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section
80000) of the Water Code or for the department to meet its
obligations with respect to any bonds or notes pursuant to that
division, shall accrue in any court to any corporation or person
unless the corporation or person has filed an application with the
commission for a rehearing within 10 days after the date of issuance
of the order or decision. The Department of Water Resources shall
notify the commission of any determination pursuant to paragraph (2)
of this subdivision prior to the issuance by the commission of any
order or decision construing, applying, or implementing the
provisions of Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the 2001-02 First
Extraordinary Session. The commission shall issue its decision and
order on rehearing within 20 days after the filing of the
application.
SEC. 8. SEC. 3. Section 1756 of the
Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
1756. (a) Within 30 days after the commission issues its decision
denying the application for a rehearing, or, if the application was
granted, then within 30 days after the commission issues its decision
on rehearing, or at least 120 days after the application is granted
if no decision on rehearing has been issued, any aggrieved party,
including the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, may petition for a writ
of review in the court of appeal or the Supreme Court for the purpose
of having the lawfulness of the original order or decision or of the
order or decision on rehearing inquired into and determined. If the
writ issues, it shall be made returnable at a time and place
specified by court order and shall direct the commission to certify
its record in the case to the court within the time specified.
(b) The petition for review shall be served upon the executive
director and the general counsel of the commission either personally
or by service at the office of the commission.
(c) For purposes of this section, the issuance of a decision or
the granting of an application shall be construed to have occurred on
the date of issuance, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b)
of Section 1731.
(d) The venue of a petition filed in the court of appeal pursuant
to this section shall be in the judicial district in which the
petitioner resides. If the petitioner is a business, venue shall be
in the judicial district in which the petitioner has its principal
place of business in California.
(e) Any party may seek from the Supreme Court, pursuant to
California Rules of Court, an order transferring related actions to a
single appellate district.
(f) For purposes of this section, review of decisions pertaining
solely to water corporations shall only be by petition for writ of
review in the Supreme Court, except that review of complaint or
enforcement proceedings may be in the court of appeal or the Supreme
Court.
(g) No order or decision arising out of a commission proceeding
under Section 854 shall be reviewable in the court of appeal pursuant
to subdivision (a) if the application for commission authority to
complete the merger or acquisition was filed on or before December
31, 1998, by two telecommunications-related corporations including at
least one which provides local telecommunications service to over
one million California customers. These orders or decisions shall be
reviewed pursuant to the Public Utilities Code in existence on
December 31, 1998.
SEC. 9. SEC. 4. Section 5900 of the
Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
5900. (a) The holder of a state franchise shall comply with the
provisions of Sections 53055, 53055.1, 53055.2, and 53088.2 of the
Government Code, and any other customer service standards pertaining
to the provision of video service established by federal law or
regulation or adopted by subsequent enactment of the Legislature. All
customer service and consumer protection standards under this
section shall be interpreted and applied to accommodate newer or
different technologies while meeting or exceeding the goals of the
standards.
(b) The holder of a state franchise shall comply with provisions
of Section 637.5 of the Penal Code and the privacy standards
contained in Section 551 et seq. of Title 47 of the United States
Code.
(c) The local entity shall enforce all of the customer service and
protection standards of this section with respect to complaints
received from residents within the local entity's jurisdiction, but
it may not adopt or seek to enforce any additional or different
customer service or other performance standards under Section 53055.3
or subdivision (q), (r), or (s) of Section 53088.2 of the Government
Code, or any other authority or provision of law.
(d) The local entity shall, by ordinance or resolution, provide a
schedule of penalties for any material breach by a holder of a state
franchise of this section. No monetary penalties shall be assessed
for a material breach if it is out of the reasonable control of the
holder. Further, no monetary penalties may be imposed prior to
January 1, 2007. Any schedule of monetary penalties adopted pursuant
to this section shall in no event exceed five hundred dollars ($500)
for each day of each material breach, not to exceed one thousand five
hundred dollars ($1,500) for each occurrence of a material breach.
However, if a material breach of this section has occurred, and the
local entity has provided notice and a fine or penalty has been
assessed, and if a subsequent material breach of the same nature
occurs within 12 months, the penalties may be increased by the local
entity to a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of
each material breach, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000)
for each occurrence of the material breach. If a third or further
material breach of the same nature occurs within those same 12
months, and the local entity has provided notice and a fine or
penalty has been assessed, the penalties may be increased to a
maximum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each day of
each material breach, not to exceed seven thousand five hundred
dollars ($7,500) for each occurrence of the material breach. With
respect to video providers subject to a franchise or license, any
monetary penalties assessed under this section shall be reduced
dollar-for-dollar to the extent any liquidated damage or penalty
provision of a current cable television ordinance, franchise
contract, or license agreement imposes a monetary obligation upon a
video provider for the same customer service failures, and no other
monetary damages may be assessed.
(e) The local entity shall give the video service provider written
notice of any alleged material breach of the customer service
standards of this division and allow the video provider at least 30
days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material
breach.
(f) A material breach for the purposes of assessing penalties
shall be deemed to have occurred for each day within the jurisdiction
of each local entity, following the expiration of the period
specified in subdivision (e),
that any material breach has not been remedied by the video service
provider, irrespective of the number of customers or subscribers
affected.
(g) Any penalty assessed pursuant to this section shall be
remitted to the local entity, which shall submit one-half of the
penalty to the Digital Divide Account established in Section 280.5.
(h) Any interested person may seek judicial review of a decision
of the local entity in a court of appropriate jurisdiction. For this
purpose, a court of law shall conduct a de novo review of any issues
presented.
(i) This section shall not preclude a party affected by this
section from utilizing any judicial remedy available to that party
without regard to this section. Actions taken by a local legislative
body, including a local franchising entity, pursuant to this section
shall not be binding upon a court of law. For this purpose, a court
of law shall conduct de novo review of any issues presented.
(j) For purposes of this section, "material breach" means any
substantial and repeated failure of a video service provider to
comply with service quality and other standards specified in
subdivision (a).
(k) The Office of Ratepayer Advocates shall have authority to
advocate on behalf of video subscribers regarding renewal of a
state-issued franchise and enforcement of this section, and Sections
5890 and 5950. For this purpose, the office shall have access to any
information in the possession of the commission subject to all
restrictions on disclosure of that information that are applicable to
the commission.