The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the minimum redemption payment established by this article is a regulatory fee collected for the purpose of assuring the return for recycling of a greater percentage of the beverage containers sold in this state, and is beneficial to the beverage industry by assuring the more reliable availability of raw materials. Accordingly, the payments of redemption payments to the department for deposit in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund are not the “proceeds of taxes,” as that term is used in subdivision (c) of Section 8 of XIII B of the California Constitution, and the disbursement or encumbrance of money in the fund is not subject to the limitations imposed by that article.

(Amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 1339, Sec. 29. Effective October 2, 1989.)