Micheli Files
Statutory construction in California: Questions and answers
In our system of government lawmakers make laws and courts are tasked with interpreting those statutes. That process is based on a surprisingly large number of factors.
In our system of government lawmakers make laws and courts are tasked with interpreting those statutes. That process is based on a surprisingly large number of factors.
In recent weeks our intrepid Chris Micheli has given us a detailed look at California’s complex official rulemaking process. This week he turns his sights on our state’s equally intricate legislative process.
California’s official rulemaking process is, to say the last, incredibly complex. In this second of a two-part Micheli Files, lobbyist and law professor Chris Micheli examines more aspects of that process. Part I of can be found here.
We’ve all heard the expression “The rules are the rules.” But when it comes to making rules in the state of California, the process has its own labyrinth of, well, rules to guide the process.
You have questions about the myriad of rules around drafting bills in the California Legislature – we have answers! Or to be more accurate, our good friend Chris Micheli has answers.
For the 2025 Session, legislators in both houses are subject to a 2-year limit of 35 bills. But did the lower caps actually produce fewer bills this year? In a special edition of the Micheli Files, law professor and lobbyist Chris Micheli took a look a bill intros going back almost two decades to give us that answer.
What is a “constitutional amendment”? Although California’s Constitution provides for the amendment of this document, our state Constitution does not define this term. A traditional definition of a constitutional amendment is a modification to an existing constitution.
There are numerous types of bills introduced in the California Legislature each year, and an equal number of rules for how and when they are presented. In this week’s Micheli Files, lobbyist and law professor Chris Micheli gives us the lowdown on legislation under the dome.
What is a “resolution” in the California Legislature? Although resolutions and concurrent resolutions are mentioned several times in Article IV of the California Constitution, neither term is defined in that document.
At the end of bills in the California Legislature, there may be “plus sections,” which are uncodified provisions that may do a number of things, such as expressing legislative intent, making legislative findings and declarations, or explaining why a bill may have a certain designation, such as a special statute or an urgency statute.