California legislative process obstacles

It does not come as a surprise for readers to know there are numerous obstacles to overcome during the legislative process in the California Legislature. These obstacles are generally categorized as policy, fiscal, and political obstacles that may need to be addressed as a bill makes its way through the legislative process in this state.

In addition to those three categories of obstacles to consider, in preparation for introducing a bill, there will likely be questions posed to reflect potential concerns of the legislator who will author your bill. Let’s begin with those possible concerns before considering the three categories.

Legislators’ Concerns
When presenting a bill proposal to a legislator who is considering being the author of a bill, generally legislators will want to understand the following key issues:

• What is existing law in this area?
• What does the bill propose to do?
• What are the policy arguments for and against the bill?
• What is the fiscal impact, if any, of the bill?
• Who will support the bill?
• Who will oppose the bill?
• How does the bill impact the legislator’s district?
• How will the Governor likely view the bill?
• What are the political implications, if any, of the bill?

Assuming a legislator agrees to author the bill, the sponsor or principal supporter(s) of the legislation will need to prepare to address the potential obstacles that the bill will encounter during the legislative process.

The following obstacles are reviewed by posing questions that will help guide your resolution of them.

Policy Obstacles
Naturally, there should be a good policy rationale for the legislation. Unfortunately, the Legislature generally examines a proposed solution, rather than examines the policy problem that is attempted to be addressed and then determines what the best solution to that problem actually is.

At this early point in the legislative process, the bill’s proponents need to address some of these questions:

• In presenting the bill (which contains a solution), has the policy problem been clearly explained?
• Is this bill the best solution to the stated policy problem?
• Are there other viable solutions to address the problem?
• What is the potential policy concern(s) with the other solution(s)?
• Is there sufficient policy justification to make the proposed change in law?
• Is there adequate evidence that the alleged shortcoming in existing law exists?

Fiscal Obstacles
Assuming the policy implications of the bill are addressed, the fiscal impact is duly considered by the respective Appropriations Committees (i.e., the fiscal committees in the California Legislature). Note that even some policy committees consider the fiscal impact of proposed legislation, such as the Health, Education, and Revenue & Taxation Committees.

In fact, pursuant to the Assembly Rules, the Assembly Committee on Revenue & Taxation, for example, has its own “suspense file” similar to that of the Appropriations Committee. The purpose of the Suspense File is to hold bills with a fiscal impact until a later date at which time all of the bills can be voted upon.

The fiscal considerations always come into play if a bill meets the threshold to be placed on the “Suspense File” of either the Assembly or Senate Appropriations Committee, particularly in times when the State is facing financial difficulties. And, the view of the Governor on the fiscal impact of legislation is obviously crucial.

As a result of the importance of the fiscal obstacles, the following are some of the questions to address:

• Is there any fiscal impact due to the proposed law change?
• If so, how significant is the impact?
• If there is a fiscal impact, is it to state government, local government, and/or the private sector?
• If the fiscal impact is significant, is there a funding source or mechanism to “pay” for the cost of the bill?
• Will the Department of Finance support, oppose, or be neutral on the proposal based upon the fiscal impact?

Political Obstacles
Certain special interests are sometimes the most difficult hurdle to overcome in the legislative process, even if the author and sponsor have resolved the policy and fiscal concerns of the legislation. That is because those who are in a powerful position generally do not want to do anything that does not advance their own interests or that may weaken their position.

In this regard, some of the questions to pose here include:

• Which group(s) are likely to support the bill? How can they impact the proposed law change?
• Which group(s) are likely to oppose the bill? How can they impact the proposed law change?
• Does a change in law result in hurting one group and/or helping another group?
• Is there grassroots support for either side of the proposal? If so, how significant would that support or opposition be for the bill?
• How has the media portrayed the proposal, if at all?
• Is the majority party in support or opposition to the proposal?
• How does legislative staff view the proposal?
• What is the Administration’s view of the law change?
• Does the proposed bill impact one or more state agencies? If so, will the agency support, oppose, or be neutral on the proposal?
• Are there possible amendments to the bill to alleviate some or all of the policy and/or fiscal concerns with the proposal?
• Does the proposed bill impact one legislative district, a geographic region, or the entire state? If so, how is it impacted?

Other Obstacles
Aside from the three major categories of obstacles, there may be other obstacles to consider when preparing a bill for the California legislative process. For example, in a few instances, vote requirements may become an obstacle if the bill requires a super majority vote for passage.

There may be other considerations that impact the legislation. For instance, does the bill contain an urgency clause? Or does the bill result in anyone paying a higher level of taxes? These bills will require a 2/3 majority vote for passage on both floors of the Legislature. Or does the bill trigger an even higher vote threshold because it amends a particular initiative statute (such as Prop. 99 and its 4/5 majority vote requirement)?

As one would expect, each controversial bill can create its own unique set of obstacles that will need to be addressed by the author and its supporters. That is why there is not a clear set of rules that apply in the same way for each and every piece of legislation. It is a rare year in the legislative process that one does not learn a new tactic or some method to improve a bill’s chances of success the following year.