Posts Tagged: bills
Analysis
ANALYSIS: Are there ways to improve the lawmaking process in the California Legislature? I believe there are. I believe the fundamental problem is that there are too many bills each year. There just is not enough bandwidth for all persons involved in the legislative process to sufficiently review and analyze the volume of bills.
News
California courts are occasionally faced with scrutinizing the lawmakers’ decisions to label some bills as urgency statutes and others as special statutes. It may sound unexciting, but the reality is this: The courts’ rulings can affect millions of Californians.
Opinion
OPINION: Our state’s high cost of living is driven in large part by exorbitant housing prices.
Skyrocketing rents and record-high home prices are forcing many families to make the heart-wrenching decision to leave our state altogether. Californians of all backgrounds are calling out for action: We need housing now.
News
When preparing to lobby legislative committees, the focus is on legislative staff and then legislators. There are two types of staff for our purposes: committee and member. Committee staff, referred to as committee consultants, are those who work directly for the legislative policy or fiscal committees. Member staff are those who work directly for an Assembly member or senator.
News
With Gov. Gavin Newsom completing his bill actions on Wednesday, we can look at some of the data from the just-concluded 2019-20 California legislative session. Over the two-year session, a total of 4,848 bills were introduced between the Senate and the Assembly (2,625 in 2019 and 2,223 in 2020). In the Senate, there were a total of 1,474 SBs introduced, including 682 SBs in 2020 and 792 SBs in 2019. In the Assembly, there were a total of 3,374 ABs introduced, including 1,541 ABs in 2020 and 1,833 ABs in 2019.
News
Landmark legislation to improve California’s notoriously fractured mental-health system has been passed and sent to the governor in the waning days of a chaotic legislative session disrupted by the COVID pandemic. “This package of legislation is a game-changer,” said Maggie Merritt, executive director of the Steinberg Institute.
News
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez wrapped up this legislative year feeling pretty good about her accomplishments. Despite often fierce opposition, the San Diego Democrat was able to pass 11 pieces of legislation, including those that protect child sexual abuse survivors and workers.
News
The California cannabis conundrum: A lot more weed, a lot less money. Since Proposition 64 took effect earlier this year, the cannabis industry has raked in nearly $135 million of revenue for the state through sales taxes, not including local jurisdiction taxes. Even with increased sales each quarter, some officials are calling the revenue “substantially below projections.”
Analysis
Clearly, Washington, D.C., and Sacramento share many things in common — including such negatives as a hyper-heated political culture, insularity and a pervasive sense of entitlement. And California’s Legislature is obviously based upon the federal legislative model. Nonetheless, their legislative rules are different, so let’s take a look at some of the major distinctions.
Analysis
The burning question of the day: Should Joint Rule 10.5 be changed? If you, like most normal people, have little interest in the Capitol’s battles, then this question prompts a big yawn. But if you engage in the interminable wars over legislation, then this issue is a very, very big deal. So pay attention, you may be tested on this later.
The California state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau, via Shutterstock)
