Cooperation image by metamorworksMICHELI FILES: In talking with former staff from the Department of Finance (DOF) the past few weeks, the following are the key practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the staff members of the Governor’s Finance Department. While some of these recommendations may seem obvious, many of them bear repeating.
Chris Micheli photo by Scott DuncanMany Capitol observers are aware of the single subject rule. Some know that the California Constitution, in Article II, Section 8(d), provides that “an initiative measure embracing more than one subject may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.” But does a similar rule exist for bills considered by the California Legislature?
California law, image by Yuriy KANALYSIS – Even though the 29 California Codes, in which there are over 155,000 sections, contain guidance on interpreting their provisions, the attorneys in California’s Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) continue to modernize our state’s statutes. This important work includes the use of gender-neutral drafting of legislation for bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments.
Clean energy transition, image by FrankHHOPINION – Central procurement would enable California to aggregate the needs of dozens of electricity providers and pool this purchasing power to negotiate with project developers of large clean energy projects for the best possible deal.
Under the dome, image by Cheri AlguireANALYSIS – Bills signed into law by the Governor that contain an urgency clause become urgency statutes or urgency clause statutes. Under the California Constitution, urgency clause bills go into effect immediately upon their enactment.
Lucia Saldivar, photo by Scott Duncan PhotographyGrowing up in San Ysidro, just this side of the California-Mexico border, Lucia Saldivar thought she was going to be a musician, like her father. “Music always helped me make sense of the world and my community,” she says. “Then in high school, I learned a new language to help make sense of the world around me, and that was politics and policy.”
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.
California law, image by Vitalii VodolazskyiANALYSIS – One of the controversial occurrences during the annual California Legislative Session is so-called “gut-and-amend” bills, or replacing the bill’s contents with a subject which is entirely unrelated to the original contents of the bill. Such amendments raise the legislative issue of “germaneness,” which refers to whether a proposed amendment is relevant to the subject matter currently contained in the measure.
Capitol and flag, by Karin Hildebrand LauANALYSIS – Around the country, and at the federal level, there is an ongoing debate among legislative lawyers whether a severability clause must be included in legislation.
Photo illustration of California justice showing a gavel in a courtroom. (Image: sirtravelalot, via Shutterstock)A spate of smash-and-grab robberies and a rising crime rate may have dampened their hopes early on, but criminal justice reformers say the recently ended legislative session brought a raft of significant improvements to the way California treats people caught up in the system.