About Legislative Government

The state constitution separates the powers of state government into three main branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch has the authority to make laws; the executive branch, to administer laws; the judicial branch, to interpret laws and ensure that they are applied justly and equitably.

The system of checks and balances provided in the constitution results in certain exceptions to these normally distinct roles. For example, the governor, as chief executive of the state, has the authority to veto legislation; legislators are constitutionally authorized to serve on certain administrative boards in the executive branch.

The principal lawmaking powers of the state are vested in the legislature. Every year the legislature adopts thousands of new laws or changes in the law, in response to new situations and needs.

The subject matter of state laws is limited only by certain federal restrictions. When state and federal laws conflict or cover the same subject, federal laws often prevail, although California imposes stricter standards on environmental issues and firearms possession, for example. The U.S. Supreme Court has extended federal jurisdiction into areas such as civil and criminal rights, primarily on the basis of the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares:

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The legislature has broad power over local governments. Counties, cities, regional agencies, and special districts may be created only in accordance with state law. When local ordinances and state laws conflict or cover the same subject, state laws generally prevail.

The legislature controls public finances by levying taxes and appropriating funds.

As part of the system of checks and balances, the legislature has statutory influence over the funding, organization, and procedures used by administrative agencies of the executive branch. It also has the authority to appoint citizens to policy-making committees in the executive branch and to designate members of the legislature to serve on agency boards. Many appointments made by the governor are subject to legislative approval.

The legislature's role in the impeachment process serves as a check on both the executive and judicial branches. The state Assembly has the power to impeach; that is, to accuse an elected state official or judge of misconduct in office; the Senate tries impeachment cases.

The federal government and all states except Nebraska have a bicameral legislature, a legislature divided into two houses; in California these are the state Senate and the state Assembly. Legislators are elected by district, one member from each district. The districts are contiguous and are numbered consecutively, beginning in the north, and ending in the south. The constitution calls for 40 Senate districts and 80 Assembly districts. In 1992, each Senate district represented an average of 750,000 constituents, while each Assembly district represented an average of 375,000 constituents. Detailed maps of district boundaries are available from legislators' offices and from the elections division of the secretary of state's office.

Districts of a particular type (e.g. Senate) must be reasonably equal in population. Consequently, a district in a rural, sparsely populated area is much larger, geographically, than one in an urban, densely populated area. The lines of the districts are adjusted after each national census to reflect changes in the population. The Census is taken at the beginning of each decade; the state constitution requires the legislature to adjust district boundary lines in the following year. The legislature is responsible for redistricting state Senate and Assembly, U.S. Congressional, and Board of Equalization districts. The governor must sign the legislative plan for its approval; if vetoed, the legislature may attempt an override with a two-thirds vote. Failing a two-thirds vote, the matter may be decided by the Supreme Court. From 1982 to 1992 five ballot initiatives proposing change in the redistricting process were rejected by the voters.

In 1991, the redistricting process was sent to the state Supreme Court as a result of the governor's refusal to enact any legislative redistricting proposals. In January 1992, a panel of special masters comprised of retired justices appointed by the Supreme Court presented new district lines and re-drew the boundaries for all legislative and congressional districts.

Shifting the previous boundaries changed the dynamics of California's political landscape, leaving many legislators without districts. Incumbent state lawmakers were forced to decide whether to run in their new, more competitively shaped districts, run for another elected position, campaign for one of the seven new congressional seats gained in the most recent census, or retire from public office altogether.

Any U.S. citizen 18 years of age or older who has been a California resident for three years and a resident of a legislative district for one year immediately preceding an election is eligible to hold legislative office. Legislators are elected on a partisan ballot.

With the appearance of term limits (see Figure 5.1, About Proposition 140) on the political landscape, state senators may serve only two four-year terms; Assembly members may serve only three two-year terms. All 80 Assembly seats and half of the 40 Senate seats are up for election every even-numbered year. A vacancy in either house is generally filled by special election announced by the governor.

The constitution gives each house of the legislature the power to judge the qualifications and elections of its members and to expel one of its members by a two-thirds vote. Legislators are bound by a code of ethics, adopted in 1966, dealing with conflict of interest; complaints are handled by the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. There is also a Senate Committee on Legislative Ethics, which enforces Standards of Conduct in the Senate. Finally, members of the legislature are subject to the provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974.

The California legislature is almost a full-time body. Lawmakers receive an annual salary and reimbursement on a per diem, or per day, basis for travel and living expenses in connection with their official duties. The salary levels are set by the California Citizens Compensation Commission. The independent commission was created by the passage of Proposition 112 in 1990. Proposition 112 also banned elected officials from accepting honoraria (i.e., speaking fees) ,limited the value of gifts they can receive from special interests, and prohibited them from lobbying their former colleagues for a year after leaving office.

In 1991, the commission established the annual income for all elective members in state government. In 1992, the annual salary for a state legislator was $52,500; majority and minority floor leaders each receive $57,750, :and, the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate president pro tempore each receive $63,000.

The State Board of Control sets the level of per diem paid to the legislature. In 1992, the per diem allowance for living expenses while on legislative business was raised from $92 to $100 per day. A legislator is eligible for living expenses for each day spent on state business in Sacramento. A specific request must be made for living expenses for official time spent outside of Sacramento.

Each legislator also receives $5,400 or 90 percent, whichever is less, towards a state-leased automobile, allowances for postage, expenses in district offices, and mileage on personal cars. The state pays commercial transportation costs and expenses for cars owned or leased by the state.

The retirement system for legislators is supported partly by member contributions and partly by the General Fund. A former legislator is eligible for a full pension after 21 years of service or at age 60. The pension may not exceed two-thirds of the lawmaker's salary at the time of retirement, except for annual cost-of-living adjustments.

The lieutenant governor is designated by the constitution as president of the Senate, largely a ceremonial post. This officer has no role in the routine business of the Senate and votes only when there is a tie and one more vote would provide the necessary vote needed to approve a motion or measure. (In 1982, the voters rejected a plan to remove the lieutenant governor as president of the Senate.)

The president pro tempore is responsible for the overall administration of the Senate. Elected by the Senate, the pro tem chairs the Senate Rules Committee, promotes the prompt disposition of bills and other business before the Senate.

The Senate Rules Committee, chaired by the president pro tempore, is composed of four other members elected by the state Senate. This committee has the power to appoint all other Senate committees, designate chairs and vice chairs of standing committees, and decide which committee will consider each bill. The committee also makes recommendations on the confirmation of many gubernatorial appointments.

The rules committee decides which senators will serve on executive and judicial boards and commissions. All expenditures and claims for reimbursement by Senate committees must be approved by this committee.

Majority and minority floor leaders are chosen by their respective party caucuses to manage political strategy. The majority and minority party caucuses also elect their own chairs to lead party policy meetings.

The speaker of the Assembly, the presiding officer of that body, is elected from and by the Assembly membership and serves ex-officio on all Assembly and joint legislative committees.

The power of the Assembly speaker is broader than that of the pro tem of the Senate. The speaker names the majority floor leader and the chair of the rules committee; assists in establishing the size and membership of all standing committees; designates the chairs and vice chairs of policy committees, who must be from opposite political parties; and selects members for executive and judicial boards and commissions.

The speaker pro tempore is elected by the Assembly to perform leadership duties during the speaker's absence. The speaker pro tem is an ex-officio member of the rules committee with no vote.

The Assembly Rules Committee is chaired by the speaker or the speaker's appointee. The majority and minority caucuses each nominate four additional members; the eight nominees must be approved by majority vote of the Assembly. The rules committee refers bills to committees, and selects and supervises Assembly support staff. It is responsible for expediting procedures and proposing changes in house rules. Members of this committee may not chair standing committees.

The floor leader of the majority party is appointed by the Assembly speaker; the minority floor leader is chosen by the minority caucus. The majority and minority caucus chairs are chosen by their respective parties.

Policy committees are standing committees established in the rules adopted by each house; their membership usually changes after each election. Some establish subcommittees to facilitate their work. Each committee is assigned bills in its subject area to hear, study, and vote on.

Committee names change slightly from session to session, but each house has committees which deal with similar issue areas. Areas addressed include: agriculture and water resources, banking, commerce, and international trade, business and professions, consumer protection, constitutional amendments, education, elections, energy, environmental safety, government organization, health and human services, housing, insurance, industrial relations,judiciary, labor, local government, natural resources, public employees and retirement, public safety, revenue and taxation, transportation, utilities and commerce, veterans affairs, water, parks, and wildlife.

Special or select committees may be set up by either house to research a comparatively limited subject, such as child abuse or mobile homes.

Joint committees include members of both houses, appointed by the speaker in the Assembly and by the rules committee in the Senate. Such committees can conduct investigations, hold hearings, and recommend legislation.

Conference committees, set up to resolve differences in the Assembly and Senate versions of bills, are composed of three members of each house, chosen by the Assembly speaker and the Senate Rules Committee.

Although California has one of the largest legislative staffs in the nation, it was substantially reduced by Proposition 140. Support staff provide legal, technical, research, and secretarial services for the legislators. Most employees of the legislature are appointed by the rules committee in each house and are exempt from civil service.

Each member of the legislature is entitled to an administrative assistant and secretaries for both district and capitol offices. Additional personnel are provided for larger districts or workloads.

Each committee chair is provided one or more committee consultants, depending on the workload of the particular committee. Especially knowledgeable in their subject areas, committee consultants analyze bills, help draft legislation, plan hearings, and conduct studies.

Offices of research provide services for each house. The majority and minority party caucuses in each house are assisted by consultants.

The chief legal advisor to the legislature is the legislative counsel. A nonpartisan position, the legislative counsel is elected at the beginning of each regular session by both houses. Although the legislative counsel provides legal services which the legislature may desire in connection with their legislative activities, a greater portion of their work is concerned with legislative issues. The legislative counsel's office prepares bills, resolutions, and amendments according to the requests of the legislators; advises legislators on the constitutionality and legality of proposed measures; and prepares digests and indexes of codes and statutes.

Fiscal advice is provided by the legislative analyst. A nonpartisan position, the legislative analyst is appointed by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The analyst's staff evaluates the proposed state budget, revenues and expenditures; makes fiscal analyses of each bill assigned to a fiscal committee; and responds to legislative requests for information. The legislative analyst also prepares an analysis of each proposition for the state ballot pamphlet.

The auditor general assists the legislature by evaluating the performance of state and local programs as the state's watchdog. A nonpartisan position, the auditor general is appointed by a concurrent resolution of the legislature. The auditor general also annually performs a financial audit of California as required by the federal government.

Since Proposition 140 cut the legislature's operating budget, the offices of the auditor general and legislative analyst were in danger of being unfunded. While legislation was introduced in 1992 to establish the auditor general and legislative analyst as constitutional offices with their own budgets, voters will have to decide these issues on the June 1992 ballot.

The state constitution defines specific dates on which, and number of days in which, the legislature must complete certain procedures. Within this framework, each house determines its own standing rules of procedure.

Each session is convened under the standing rules of the previous session. Each house then adopts the same or new rules to govern procedural matters such as the committee system, duties of officers, order of daily business, parliamentary rules, and joint legislative rules, for the new session.

The governor is constitutionally authorized to call the legislature into special session at any time to deal with urgent or extraordinary issues. Action during a special session is limited to the subjects specified by the governor. Procedural rules permit speedier action during a special session than a regular session. Laws passed in special session take effect 91 days after the session adjourns.

The new legislature convenes each two-year session in December after each general election. A regular session lasts two years; the meeting schedule is as follows:

Even-numbered years

• December: New legislative session begins

• January: Regular session begins
• Spring: One-week recess
• Summer: One-month recess
• September-December: Interim study recess

• January: Regular session resumes
• Spring: One-week recess
• Summer: One-month recess
• August 31: End of regular session
• November 30: Adjournment

A bill is a proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law. An Assembly bill (AB) is one introduced in the Assembly; a Senate bill (SB), in the Senate. Bills are designated by number, in the order of introduction in each house. For example, AB 16 refers to the sixteenth bill introduced in the Assembly. The numbering starts afresh each session.

The legislature takes other kinds of action by resolution, though the term bill is often used loosely to include resolutions.

A constitutional amendment, known as an ACA or SCA, depending on the house of origin, is a resolution proposing a change in the constitution. An ACA or SCA must be approved by two-thirds of the members of each house by a certain deadline in order to qualify for a statewide ballot. A constitutional amendment must be approved by a majority of voters to take effect.

A concurrent resolution is used to adopt joint rules, establish joint committees, commend persons or organizations, or express legislative intent. Referred to as an ACR or SCR, depending on the house of origin, a concurrent resolution needs only a majority vote of each house to pass.

A joint resolution, referred to as an AJR or SJR, depending on the house of origin, usually urges passage or defeat of legislation pending before the U.S. Congress or urges presidential action.

A house resolution expresses the sentiment of either the Assembly (AR) or Senate (SR). A house resolution is used, for example, to create an interim committee, amend a house rule, or congratulate an individual or group; it is usually adopted by majority voice vote.

The legislature handles bills according to a process prescribed by the constitution and statutory law to ensure opportunity for citizen input. The requirements and deadlines that are part of the bill process do not apply to resolutions or the budget bill.

The legislative process, outlined in Figure 5.2, is divided into distinct stages:

Drafting. Upon the request of a legislator, the legislative counsel's office drafts the formal language of a bill and a digest of its main provisions. Ideas for proposals often come from various organizations and individuals, such as legislative committees, the executive branch, counties, cities, businesses, lobbyists, and citizens.

Introduction. A bill can be introduced in either house of the legisla- ture, at which time it is numbered and read for the first time. (The constitution requires, with limited exception, that a bill be read by title on three separate days in each house.) The name of the author, the legislator who introduced the bill, becomes part of the title. The bill is printed and subject to a 30-day waiting period before it can be heard or acted upon.

Policy committee. The rules committee of the house of origin assigns each bill to a policy committee appropriate to the subject matter. The committee hears public testimony from the author, proponents, and opponents. The committee can take no action, pass the original or an amended form of the bill, kill it by holding it in committee, refer it to another committee, amend it and re-refer it to itself, or send it to interim study. Approval of a bill requires a majority of those on the committee.

Fiscal committee. If approved by the policy committee, a bill which contains an appropriation or has financial implications for the state is sent to the fiscal committee, where similar consideration and actions can occur. Approval of a bill requires a majority of those on the committee.

Second reading. A bill recommended for passage by committee is read a second time on the floor of the house. Ordinarily there is little or no debate. If a bill is amended at this stage, it may be referred back for another committee hearing.

Floor vote. A bill is read a third time, debated, and possibly amended on the floor. A roll call vote is taken. An ordinary bill needs a majority vote to pass (21 votes in the Senate, 41 votes in the Assembly). An urgency bill or a bill with fiscal implications requires a two-thirds vote (27 votes in the Senate, 54 in the Assembly).

Second house. If it receives a favorable vote in the first house, a bill repeats the same steps in the other house. If the second house passes the bill without changing it, it is sent to the governor's desk.

Concurrence or conference. If a measure is amended in the second house and passed, it is returned to the house of origin for consideration of amendments. The house of origin may concur with the .amendments and send the bill to the governor or reject the amendments and submit it to a two-house conference committee. If either house rejects the conference report, a second (and even a third) conference committee can be formed. If both houses adopt the conference report, the bill is sent to the governor.

Governor's action. Within 12 days after receiving a bill, the governor may sign it into law, allow it to become law without a signature, or veto it In bills that appropriate funds, the governor may veto or reduce particular expenditure items while approving the rest of the provisions. When the legislature recesses in mid-September of an odd-numbered year, the governor has until mid-October to make decisions on bills. When the legislature concludes its work in August of an even-numbered year, the governor has until September 30th to make decisions on bills.

Overrides. A vetoed bill is returned to the house of origin, where a vote may be taken to override the governor's veto; a two-thirds vote of both houses is required to override a veto.

Effective date. Ordinarily a law passed during a regular session takes effect January 1 of the following year. A few statutes go into effect as soon as the governor signs them; these include acts calling for elections and urgency measures necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.

About 5,000 pieces of legislation are introduced during each two- year session. Each house publishes three guides during the session to assist those trying to keep track of the bills.

The Daily File for each house is an agenda of the day's business. It lists measures scheduled for committee hearing and house action, the location and meeting time of each committee, and the current membership of all standing committees. A visitor to the capitol may obtain this publication in the bill room.

The Daily Journal contains an account of the proceedings of each house for the preceding day. It includes the tides of all measures introduced, considered, or acted upon; the text of house resolutions, roll calls, messages from the governor and the other house; and committee reports, motions, and roll calls. Senate committee votes are reported in the Senate's Joumal; Assembly committee votes, in a separate appendix to the Assembly's Journal No record is kept of arguments in debate.

A History is published by each house. The Weekly History, published at the end of each week, summarizes all action taken on every measure from the beginning of the session through the end of that week. Each chamber's Daily History shows the action taken on the action file each day since the last Weekly History. A Semifinal History is issued by the Assembly in February following the first year of the session. When the legislature adjourns, a Final History is published, summarizing all legislation introduced and acted upon during the two-year session.

The Index, published by the legislative counsel, is used to access various pieces of legislation by either house by subject matter.

Single copies of the daily and weekly publications and of individual bills are available free from the legislative bill room in the capitol; each request must specify the bill number and session of origin. County law libraries and many public libraries maintain complete sets of bills while the legislature is in session. Additionally, brochures and pamphlets on state government and the legislature are provided by the bill room, members of the legislature, the chief clerk of the Assembly, and the secretary of the Senate.

Legislators enact laws on behalf of the people of the state. Californians have the right to express their views on proposed measures as individuals, in cooperation with others, and through legislative advocates. Public support or opposition to a bill or budget item can be expressed in many ways: timely letters to legislative representatives, testimony before committees, personal visits to legislative officials, and public information campaigns, to name a few.

Some issue-oriented organizations hire advocates or lobbyists to help them communicate their views on legislative and administrative matters directly to elected officials and agencies. In 1991,856 professional lobbyists (or legislative advocates as they prefer to be called) were registered with 276 firms representing a variety of businesses, utilities, professional associations, cities, counties, labor unions, environmental organizations, and public interest groups.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates the activities of lobbyists; for instance, lobbyists must register with the secretary of state each legislative session; file quarterly reports of bills lobbied, expenses incurred, and payments received; and limit the value of gifts to any legislator to $10 per month.