Chart of 2026 bill volume of California legislative committees

The California Legislature has a combined 57 standing committees, with 32 in the Assembly and 25 in the Senate. There were 1,846 bills (1,263 ABs and 583 SBs) introduced during the 2026 Legislative Session. Those standing committees, and their hardworking consultants (along with their minority party counterparts), reviewed and analyzed nearly two thousand bills during the past year.

The following charts provide the data for the original bill referrals to policy committees during the 2026 Session (meaning the first committee that received a bill from the respective Rules Committee). It does not include second or third bill referrals which increase the numbers below of bills heard by several committees, such as the Senate Judiciary Committee which analyzes and hears a significant number of bills as a second committee of referral.

2026 Assembly Committees and Original Bill Referrals

(Note that these figures do not include second committee referrals; and Appropriations and Rules Committees are not included; historically, about 80% of all bills go through the Appropriations Committee)

2026 Senate Committees and Original Bill Referrals

(Note that these figures do not include second committee referrals; and Appropriations and Rules Committees are not included; historically, about 80% of all bills go through the Appropriations Committee)

As can be seen by the charts above, several thousand bills are analyzed each year of the California Legislature’s biennium session, and this year is no different. An interesting note is the number of first referrals in the second house in comparison to the house of origin.