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Legislative Process

The California State Legislature consists of two houses: the Senate and the Assembly. There are 40 members in teh Senate, each serving four years with a limit of two terms, and 80 members int he Assembly, each serving two years terms, with a limit of three terms. The legislature convenes in a biennial session, on the first Monday in December of each even numbered year and continues until November 30 of the next uneven number year.

Introduction / First Reading of Bill

A citizen, legislator, organized group, state agency or the Governor proposes an idea for legislation. This legislation is drafted by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, and introduced by a legislator from either the Senate or Assembly. A bill is introduced and read for the first time in the house of origin. The bill is then given a number, a descriptive title and assigned to the appropriate committee(s) for further consideration. Each house sequentially numbers in chronological order its proposed bills during each session of the Legislature. For example, during a legislative session the first bill proposed by the Assembly will be numbered AB1, and the first bill proposed by the Senate will be numbered SB1.

Committee Stage

Thirty days must pass before a bill can be heard in Committee (this waiting can be waived by a 3/4 vote in the house). The Rules Committee refers the bill to one or more policy committees. Bills aer assigned to policy committees according to their subject matter, and bills that require funding must also be heard in the fiscal committees of each house. During the committee stage, the bill is presented and testimony is heard in support or opposition to the bill. After a committee holds an open hearing, they will vote by roll call on the bill. The committee chair then reports the committee recommendations to Pass, Not Pass, or Amend the bill.

• Pass : If the bill passes through committee without amendments, it is sent to the house of origin for the second and third reading.
• Not Pass : If the bill does not pass through committee, and is not reconsidered in its house of origin within 15 days, it is returned and not considered for the remainder of that session.
• Amend : If the committee recommends that the bill be passed as amended, it is then either sent to the next committee or to the floor.

Bills may be amended several times while in the committee stage, and a majority vote of the full committee is needed for the bill to be passed and sent either to the next committee or to the floor. Bills passed by committees are read a second tim eon the floor in the house of origin and then assigned to a third reading.

Second & Third Reading

If the bill has passed through committee, it is read a second time on the floor in the house of origin and then assigned to a third reading. After the third reading of the bill, there will be another roll call vote. If the bill passes it is sent to the other house for further consideration with a repeat of the above mentioned procedure. If the bill is voted upon and passes through the second house without amendments or with concurred amendments, it is forwarded to the governor for approval. If the house of origin does not concur with the amendments made by the opposite house, the bill is sent to a joint Assembly/Senate conference committee until concurrence is reached.

Final Stages

Once the bill finally passes both houses, the governor has 12 days to either sign, approve without signing, or veto the bill. If the governor does nothing after 12 days, the bill is considered approved. If vetoed, the bill mst be returned to its house of origin by September 30th of  that year or it becomes law by default. If the governor approves and signs the bill, it is sent to the Secretary of State who assigns it a chapter number. The bill becomes a law on the January first of the following year, as long as 90-days have passed since the end of the legislative session. Bills with urgency clauses are effective on the date of filing with the Secretary of State.

There is a common phrase that’s tossed around in California state politics — “As goes California, so goes the nation” — the idea that landmark policy change is first enacted in the most populous state, and then spreads to other states, and eventually Congress.

California is the fifth largest economy in the world and houses 12% of the United States population. Our state legislature has a Democratic supermajority in both houses and progressive Democratic governor. With this level of economic might and political power, we can make progressive policy a reality in California and serve as a model for other states and the federal government to follow.

Unfortunately, the legislative process in California is confusing and the average resident doesn’t know how to get involved, so state legislators face few demands for accountability from their constituents. As a result, many politicians are more responsive to the energy, pharmaceutical, tobacco, agriculture and real estate lobbies, and progressive policy changes that we support are lost. But because legislators are not used to hearing from their constituents, small numbers of calls can make a huge difference.

Indivisible groups in California have coalesced into a statewide coalition called Indivisible CA: StateStrong and are ready to make waves in California politics through constituent power!

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how the California State Legislature operates. For more information on the importance of state advocacy, what motivates state legislators, and how to get started, check out the Indivisible States Guide.

The California Legislature 101

The Basics

California has a bicameral legislature, which means there are two chambers: the Assembly and the Senate. The Assembly has 80 members: currently 60 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Meanwhile, the Senate has 40 members: currently 27 Democrats and 13 Republicans. The Assembly is led by the Assembly Speaker, Anthony Rendon, and the Senate is led by the Senate Pro Tempore, Toni Atkins.

Legislative sessions in California last for two years. The current two-year legislative session met briefly in December to swear in new legislators but began proper on January 7, 2019 and ends in August of 2020. Each year within the legislative session has its own legislative timeline with deadlines for bills to move through the legislative process. However, any legislation that is introduced in January 2019 but does not pass by the end of 2019 can be picked up and continue through the legislative process in 2020 without needing to be re-introduced. In odd numbered years, the legislative year goes from January to October. In even numbered years, the legislative session goes from January to August to allow legislators time to campaign for their elections in September - November.

Bill ideas are hatched in late winter.After a year’s legislative session ends, legislators begin to collect ideas for legislation for the following year. They meet with advocates, policy experts, and lobbyists who propose bill ideas. While bills are authored by legislators, organizations can co-sponsor legislation and commit to helping the author to shepherd it through the legislative process using their own resources (e.g. policy expertise, lobbying influence, grassroots power, communications prowess, etc).

Bills travel through a streamlined process to become law. Bills must pass through committees and floor votes in both houses before being sent to the Governor for a signature. The process is marked by several stages.

• Bill introduction:Bills are introduced at the beginning of session in their house of origin and given a number starting with AB (Assembly bill) or SB (Senate bill). No action can be taken on any newly introduced bills for 30 days. Bills may have a single primary author or several co-authors.

• Referral to policy committee: After 30 days have passed, the Rules committee, which is chaired by the leadership of each house, refers legislation to a relevant policy committee, depending on the issue area. For example, a bill related to prescription drug pricing would go to the Health Committee in its house of origin. Bills may also be double-referred to multiple committees. It can be more difficult to get through two committees.

• Hearing in policy committee: Next the bill must be heard in the policy committee. During a committee hearing, the support and opposition will choose a few key witnesses to testify on their positions of the bill. After the witnesses for the supporting side, there is space allocated for public comment for support, where constituents and other organizations can weigh in and quickly mention that they support the bill. To advocates, this is known as giving a “me too,” because those giving public comment usually just say their name, what organization they are with (if any), where they are from, and whether they support or oppose the bill. After public comment for the supporting side, opposing witness testimony and public comment occur. One powerful tactic that advocates utilize is to “pack the hearing” for public comment. After public comment, legislators ask questions, debate the bill, and ultimately either vote or hold the bill.

• Appropriations committee:After passing policy committee, bills go the Appropriations Committee which analyze the fiscal impact of the bill. All bills which have a fiscal note of more than $150,000 in the Assembly and $50,000 in the Senate (this is most bills) are referred to something known as the Appropriations Suspense File. Once bills go the suspense file, legislators lobby the chair of the Appropriations Committee to take their bills “off suspense.” This process is secretive with no public visibility. In the suspenseful suspense file hearing, all the chosen bills are pulled off suspense, voted on, and passed. The others are left on the suspense file to die.

• Floor vote: Once out of Appropriations, the bills now are ready to go to the full floor for a vote. First, bills must undergo a Second Reading, where they are simply read into the record as being ready for a floor vote. The final vote for the bill is known as the Third Reading. 72 hours must elapse between the last amendment of a bill and its third reading.

• Actions in the second house: Once a bill passes through all of the aforementioned steps first house, it must go through all of those same steps in the second house again.

• Concurrence vote: If a bill is significantly amended in the second house, it must quickly return to the house of origin for a full floor vote to concur in the new amendments. If the house of origin does not agree to the new amendments, a conference committee consisting of members from both chambers must iron out the differences.

• Governor’s signature: Once a bill passes both chambers of the legislature, it heads to the governor’s desk where he must sign or veto it. If he does nothing, the bill becomes law without signing it. The legislature could override a gubernatorial veto with ⅔ majority in both chambers, but it’s a cultural norm in the legislature.

The legislative process is marked by key deadlines.Luckily for advocates, California’s legislative process contains a series of deadlines (see below) to ensure that legislation moves along the process. This allows us to understand when bills will likely be in a committee versus voted on the floor and to plan our strategic activism tactics accordingly.

Key 2019 Legislative Session Dates

• January 7: Legislature convenes

• January 10:Governor releases budget

• February 22:Deadline to introduce bills

• Originating House

  • March- April: Committee hearings

  • April 26th:Deadline for bill to pass policy committee

  • Mid May:Bill heard in Appropriations

  • May 17th:Deadline for bill to pass Appropriations

  • Last week of May: Bill heard on floor of the original house

  • May 31st:Deadline for bills to pass out of the first house

• Second House

  • Early/Mid June:Committee hearings

  • June 29th: Deadline for bill to pass policy committee

  • Mid August: Bill heard in Appropriations

  • August 30th: Deadline for bill to pass Appropriations

  • Early Sept: Bill heard on floor of the second house

  • September 13th:Deadline to pass and send to Governor

• Mid-Sept: Bill sent to Governor

• October 13th: Deadline for Governor signature

The Inside Scoop

While the legislative process tends to follow the steps outlined above, there are some extra intricacies to be aware of.

• Recently, the Senate has been known to be a bit more progressivethan the Assembly, which has a secret caucus of moderate corporate Democrats (who advocates like to refer to as “the mod squad”), who silently kill progressive priorities behind the scenes.

• Leadership exercises a lot of power over the fate of bills. They determine who chairs and participates in which legislative committees and which bills get referred to what committee. If leadership doesn’t like a bill, they may refer the bill to a committee with more conservative members or double-refer it to multiple committees. They can also secretly pressure members to kill bills in committee or refuse to bring the bill up for a vote.

• The Appropriations Suspense File is also known as “where bills go to die” in California politics. The suspense file process is full of political horse trading between legislators, leadership, and the Appropriations Committee chairs (Senator Portantino and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez).

• Legislators sometimes “gut and amend” billsby removing the entire content of a bill and replacing it with completely new language to be about something entirely different. These bills just continue through the legislative process from wherever they were and do not have to start all over again. This can be used to respond urgently to news or events or to circumvent difficult parts of the legislative process.

• “Urgency” bills go into effect immediately. These bills need ⅔ vote to pass, but are exempt from any of the standard legislative deadlines.

Learn about your state elected officials

You can look up your CA state legislators here.

Look up how well they represent progressive values by looking up their Courage Score.

Indivisible States also has lots of information on how to learn about who represents you in the state legislature and how to keep track of what they’re up to.

Tips for tracking bills

You can read legislation and find out where it is in the legislative process on the California legislature’s website. Check out Indivisible CA: StateStrong’s resource on how to research a bill on leginfo.

LegiScan is a free online legislative tracking tool that allows you to track legislation in one state and Congress. If you choose California as your state, you can track bills that you are interested in and receive alerts when they are scheduled for hearings, debates, and votes.

Twitter is also a great resource for learning about what is happening in Albany minute by minute. Political reporters tweet from inside the statehouse, often providing real time updates of floor debates and committee hearings. Check out these twitter lists:

• CA Politics Journalists

• CA Politics Non-Profits

• CA Politics General

• CA Indivisible Groups

Check out Indivisible States!

Now that you understand how the California Legislature, works, be sure to check out our Indivisible States Guide. It has more information on campaign development and tactics, developing strong partnerships with local advocates and reporters, and more.

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