The California State Capitol building in Sacramento, CA. Image by jsolieWhat is a “resolution” in the California Legislature? Although resolutions and concurrent resolutions are mentioned several times in Article IV of the California Constitution, neither term is defined in that document.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, home of the Legislature. (Photo: SchnepfDesign, via Shutterstock))In the California Legislature, all types of legislative measures (bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments), as well amendments to those measures, can only be introduced or processed if they are in “Legislative Counsel form.” The purpose is to ensure greater consistency in California’s statutes. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Counsel serves as legal counsel and bill drafters to California legislators and the governor.
Watering crops in California's Central Valley. (Photo: CRSHELARE, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The State Water Resources Control Board (Board) has tried for too long to bully Byron- Bethany Irrigation District (BBID), and we’ve had enough. It’s time the Board’s misguided case against BBID ends and remove the regulatory limbo the farmers within BBID currently face.
Storm clouds over Mt. Baldy, east of Los Angeles. (Photo: Joel Shawn)Even if this El Niño brings California an unusually wet winter, continuing to invest in science-based drought-related policy is essential to California’s continued success as a global innovation economy, a leader in environmental and public health, and being a darn nice place to live.
OPINION: The victims of war and civil unrest have more to worry about than the California Assembly, or so one would think. Recently, the Assembly voted to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as an independent entity. I’m waiting for those who voted yes on this measure to explain why they are involved in foreign policy, a function exclusive to federal government according to the Constitution.
A former military prosecutor, a Democrat, and a conservative San Diego-area, a Republican, are jointly authoring legislation that would bar the state — and private companies that do business with the state, including utilities — from helping the NSA collect so-called “metadata” or electronic data on Californians without a warrant.
Lawmakers have backed an attempt to keep the bonfire pits on California’s beaches, approving a resolution extolling the virtues of beach life that includes hundreds of the he decades-old, cement fire rings.
The measure by Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, a former surfer, was speedily passed in the Senate on Monday; it was approved