Every year, California legislators introduce thousands of bills, and only a fraction become law. Most of the work takes place in hearing rooms in Sacramento rather than on the floor of either house, and many decisive moments occur before a bill reaches a vote. Knowing the route a bill takes makes it much easier to follow news about a proposal that matters to you, whether it concerns housing, schools, health care or the cost of utilities.
Who is in the Legislature?
California’s Legislature has two houses. The Assembly has 80 members who serve two-year terms, and the Senate has 40 members who serve four-year terms, with half the Senate elected every two years. Each member represents a district drawn after the census by an independent citizens commission, not by the Legislature itself. San Diego County is covered by several Assembly and Senate districts, and residents can look up their own legislators through the state’s district finder.
Term limits were adjusted by Proposition 28 in 2012. Legislators elected since then may serve a total of twelve years in the Legislature, in any combination of Assembly and Senate terms. The limits are meant to bring fresh perspective, though critics argue they reduce institutional knowledge and increase the influence of staff and lobbyists.
The Legislature meets in a two-year session. Bills introduced in the first year that do not pass can be taken up in the second year, and anything not enacted by the end of the session dies. Each house is led by a presiding officer, the Speaker in the Assembly and the President pro Tempore in the Senate, who appoints committee chairs and shapes the agenda.
How does a bill start?
Only a legislator can introduce a bill, but the ideas come from many places: constituents, advocacy groups, local governments, state agencies, the governor and the legislator’s own priorities. A member works with the Office of Legislative Counsel, a nonpartisan staff of lawyers who draft the bill in correct legal form. Once filed, the bill gets a number: AB for an Assembly bill or SB for a Senate bill. Bills that propose amending the state constitution carry different prefixes, and resolutions have their own labels.
What happens in committee?
A bill is assigned to a policy committee in its house of origin, where members hear testimony from the author, supporters and opponents. Committees can pass a bill, amend it or hold it. Many bills are amended repeatedly at this stage, and the version that finally reaches the floor can differ markedly from the one introduced.
Bills that would cost the state money, or that raise revenue, must also go through an appropriations committee. Each appropriations committee holds a “suspense file,” a list of bills with significant costs that are decided together on a single day. Dozens or hundreds of bills die on that day, often without a debate, because the committee decides which ones the state can afford. The suspense file hearing is one of the most consequential moments in the legislative calendar.
How does a bill pass each house?
After clearing committees, a bill goes to the floor of its house, where it is debated and voted on. Most bills need a simple majority, 41 votes in the Assembly or 21 in the Senate. Some require more:
- Urgency measures, which take effect immediately rather than months later, need a two-thirds vote.
- Tax increases need a two-thirds vote, a requirement rooted in Proposition 13 and later measures.
- Constitutional amendments need a two-thirds vote in each house before going to voters.
- The state budget needs only a simple majority, a change voters approved in 2010, which is described in how the state budget is built.
Once a bill passes its house of origin, the process repeats in the other house, with committee hearings and a floor vote. If the second house amends the bill, the first house must agree to the changes in a “concurrence” vote, or the two houses appoint a conference committee to work out the differences.
What does the governor do?
When a bill reaches the governor, the governor has 12 days to sign it, veto it or let it become law without a signature while the Legislature is in session. For bills passed at the end of the session, the governor has until the end of September, a window of about 30 days, to act. Vetoes are explained in a message to the Legislature, and the Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in each house, though that is rare in modern California.
Signed bills are chaptered, which means they get a chapter number and become part of the state’s statutes. Most take effect on January 1 of the following year, unless they are urgency measures or the bill specifies a different date.
How do voters fit in?
Voters can change state law directly, bypassing the Legislature, through the initiative process, explained in how California ballot initiatives qualify. The Legislature can also place measures on the ballot, such as constitutional amendments and bond measures, and voters can use the referendum to challenge a law the Legislature has passed. The initiative and referendum are a check on legislative power, and the threat of an initiative sometimes prompts the Legislature to strike a deal before a measure reaches the ballot.
How can residents follow a bill?
The state posts bill information on its legislative information website, where anyone can search by number, subject or author. A bill’s page shows its text and every amended version, the votes it has received, committee analyses, and its history. Committee analyses are especially useful because they summarize what the bill does, who supports and opposes it, and what questions remain. Both houses stream hearings online, and members of the public can testify in person or by phone.
Contacting legislators works best when it is specific. A short message that cites the bill number, explains how it would affect the writer and states a clear position is more useful than a form letter. Legislators’ district offices handle constituent services, including help with state agencies.
What are the common pitfalls in following the process?
A few things trip up readers. First, a bill’s title and its content can diverge, because bills are amended so often. Second, “gut and amend” is a practice in which the contents of a bill are replaced entirely, sometimes late in the session, though rules now require public notice before a final vote. Third, passage by a house or a committee does not equal enactment, and news that a bill “passed” may refer to only one step. Finally, the end of the session in late summer compresses the final votes into a few weeks, and many bills move rapidly then.
California’s Legislature produces laws that affect nearly every part of daily life, from tenant rules to utility regulation. A basic understanding of the sequence of introduction, committee, floor, second house and governor makes it much easier to read the news with a critical eye and to know when an issue is most open to public input.
Sources: California State Legislature; California Legislative Counsel; California Constitution; California Citizens Redistricting Commission
