(a) Estimate of expenditures.--Before November 1 of each year, the Small Business Advocate shall estimate the total expenditures for the Office of Small Business Advocate and submit the estimate to the Governor in accordance with section 610 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929.¹ At the same time the Small Business Advocate submits his estimate to the Governor, the Small Business Advocate shall also submit the estimate to the General Assembly. Such estimate shall not exceed 0.0125% of the total gross intrastate operating revenues of all public utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the commission for the preceding calendar year. The Small Business Advocate, or his designated representatives, shall be afforded an opportunity to appear before the Governor and the Senate and House Appropriations Committees regarding his estimate. If the General Assembly fails to approve the Small Business Advocate's budget for the purposes of this section by March 20, the commission shall assess public utilities on the basis of the last approved allocation. At such time as the General Assembly approves the proposed budget, the Small Business Advocate and the commission shall make an adjustment in the assessment to reflect the approved budget. The Office of Small Business Advocate shall subtract from the budget finally approved by the General Assembly any balance of the appropriation to be carried over into such fiscal year from the preceding one. The remainder so determined shall constitute the total assessment and shall be allocated to and paid by public utilities in the manner hereafter prescribed.

(b) Allocation of assessment.--For each fiscal year the allocation shall be made as follows:

(c) Collection of assessment.--The commission shall thereafter complete the assessment procedure and collect the assessments as follows: Each public utility within a group shall then be assessed for and shall pay to the commission such proportion of the amount allocated to its group as the gross intrastate operating revenues of the public utility for the preceding calendar year bear to the total gross intrastate operating revenues of its group for that year. The commission shall give notice by registered mail to each public utility of the amount lawfully charged against it under the provisions of this section, which amount shall be paid by the public utility within 30 days of receipt of such notice, unless the commission specifies on the notices sent to all public utilities an installment plan of payment, in which case each public utility shall pay each installment on or before the date specified therefor by the commission. Within 15 days after receipt of such notice, the public utility against which such assessment has been made may file with the commission objections setting out in detail the grounds upon which the objector regards such assessment to be excessive, erroneous, unlawful or invalid. The commission, after notice to the objector, shall hold hearing upon such objections. After such hearing, the commission shall record upon its minutes its findings on the objections and shall transmit to the objector, by registered mail, notice of the amount, if any, charged against it in accordance with such findings, which amount, or any installment thereof, then due shall be paid by the objector within ten days after receipt of the notice of the findings of the commission with respect to such objections. If any payment prescribed by this subsection is not made as aforesaid, the commission may suspend or revoke certificates of public convenience, certify automobile registrations to the Secretary of Transportation for suspension or revocation or, through the Office of Attorney General, may institute an appropriate action at law for the amount lawfully assessed, together with any additional cost incurred by the commission or the Office of Attorney General by virtue of such failure to pay.

(d) No delay.--No suit or proceeding shall be maintained in any court for the purpose of restraining or in any way delaying the collection or payment of any assessment made under subsections (a), (b) and (c), but every public utility against which an assessment is made shall pay the same as provided in subsection (c). Any public utility making any such payment may, at any time within two years from the date of payment, sue the Commonwealth in an action at law to recover the amount paid, or any part thereof, upon the ground that the assessment was excessive, erroneous, unlawful or invalid, in whole or in part, provided that objections, as hereinbefore provided, were filed with the commission and payment of the assessment was made under protest either as to all or part thereof. In any action for recovery of any payments made under this section, the claimant shall be entitled to raise every relevant issue of law, but the findings of fact made by the commission, pursuant to this section, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. Any records, books, data, documents and memoranda relating to the expenses of the Office of Small Business Advocate shall be admissible in evidence in any court and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of their contents. If it is finally determined in any such action that all or any part of the assessment for which payment was made under protest was excessive, erroneous, unlawful or invalid, the Office of Small Business Advocate shall make a refund to the claimant out of the appropriation specified herein as directed by the court.

(e) Procedure exclusive.--The procedure in this section providing for the determination of the lawfulness of assessments and the recovery back of payments made pursuant to such assessments shall be exclusive of all other remedies and procedures.

(f) Records.--It is the intent and purpose of this section that each public utility shall advance to the Office of Small Business Advocate its reasonable share of the cost of administering this act. The Office of Small Business Advocate shall keep records of the costs incurred in connection with the administration and enforcement of this act or any other act. The Office of Small Business Advocate and the commission shall also keep a record of the manner in which it shall have computed the amount assessed against every public utility. Such records shall be open to inspection by all interested parties. The determination of such costs and assessments by the Office of Small Business Advocate and the commission, and the records and data upon which the same are made, shall be considered prima facie correct. In any proceeding instituted to challenge the reasonableness or correctness of any assessment under this section, the party challenging the same shall have the burden of proof.

(g) Payment into General Fund.--All assessments received, collected or recovered under this act shall be paid by the commission into the General Fund of the State Treasury through the Department of Revenue.

(h) Use of assessments.--All such assessments, allocated to and paid by public utilities, shall be held in trust solely for the purpose of defraying the cost of the administration and performance of the duties of the Office of Small Business Advocate relating to proceedings before the commission, the corresponding regulatory agencies of the United States, related judicial proceedings and other such matters within the jurisdiction of the Office of Small Business Advocate, and shall be earmarked for the use of, and annually appropriated to, the Office of Small Business Advocate for disbursement solely for that purpose.

(i) Requisitions.--All requisitions upon such appropriation shall be signed by the Small Business Advocate or such deputies as he may designate in writing to the State Treasurer and shall be presented to the State Treasurer and dealt with by him and the Treasury Department in the manner prescribed by the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 343, No. 176), known as The Fiscal Code.²