The California Republic, image by grafvisionANALYSIS – As we head into the final two weeks of the 2023 California Legislative Session, I wanted to provide some reminders about the purpose and use of letters to the Assembly or Senate Daily Journals, as well as a few recommendations that I hope will be implemented in the future.
A basketball player takes to the air to score an amazing dunk. (Image: PKpix, via Shutterstock)Amateurism’s last stronghold in California, intercollegiate student athletics, may be coming to an end. Up before lawmakers are two bills – SB 206 and AB 1518 – that tackle an age-old characterization of student athletes as amateurs. As amateurs, they cannot receive compensation beyond a scholarship or enlist the help of a sports agent.
A roll call begins on a bill in the Assembly. (Photo: Anna Frazier)Friday, June 2 represented the Legislature’s house-of-origin deadline. To stay alive, Assembly bills were required to have passed out of the Assembly and Senate bills had to have been passed out of the Senate. During Assembly floor debate, the issue was repeatedly raised whether the Assembly had properly complied with the provisions of Proposition 54, which California voters approved in November as a transparency measure.