California Governor's sealIn talking with staff from executive branch state agencies and departments the past few weeks, there are some practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the staff members of the Governor’s agencies and departments.
The California state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau, via Shutterstock)Practical tips for those working with the staff of the policy and fiscal committees in the California Legislature.
Image by Stuart Miles via ShutterstockSen. Aisha Wahab’s Senate Bill 573 would have originally prohibited legislative staff from working for lobbying firms for two years after leaving the capitol.
The Assembly chamber in the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)Once a bill has been passed by both houses of the California Legislature, the bill is sent to the governor’s desk. In order for the governor to act on a bill, it must be “presented” to the governor for final consideration. This means the governor must have the actual bill before him or her in order to either sign or veto the measure.
A photo illustration of California's tax code. (Image: Vitalii Vodolazskyi, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As part of the 2020-21 state budget accord, the governor and Legislature enacted AB 85, a budget trailer bill that enacted several tax law changes, including a three-year suspension of the net operating loss deduction and a cap on the use of business tax credits.
The Assembly chamber at the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)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.
The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Always Wanderlust, via Shutterstock)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.
The state Capitol in Sacramento at night. (Photo: Susanne Pommer)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.
Chris Micheli. Photo by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyLongtime lobbyist Chris Micheli stops by the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk with Tim Foster and John Howard about his new book: A Practitioner’s Guide to Lobbying and Advocacy in California.
The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Adonis Villanueva, via Shutterstock)Lobbyists at the state Capitol have noticed a trend developing over the use of letters to the Daily Journals in the Assembly and Senate as a substitute for making bill amendments. It’s a development little noticed by the public, but it is being closely watched by those with business before the Legislature.