The word “abrogate” generally means to repeal or do away with something. California statutes use this term generally in two ways. The first is the affirmative use of the word – to repeal a law, regulation, or court decision. The...
Even though a statute is created by a bill (or by an initiative measure), the California Legislature in certain instances must place a bill before the voters. According to Elections Code Section 9040: Every constitutional amendment, bond measure, or other...
Most readers of bills or statutes would naturally expect only the written word to be found in California’s Codes, which contain over half a million statutes. However, some California statutes actually contain forms, notices and even charts. The following are...
As Friday, March 11 was the filing deadline for candidates for the California State Legislature (although seats without an incumbent running get an extra week to file), we can look at the 120 legislative seats and see what changes are...
Bills in the California Legislature can do one of three things or a combination of those three: Add a statute; amend a statute; or, repeal a statute. Bills can be found at the following website: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ This website is maintained...
Recently-introduced committee bill, Assembly Bill 2962 (authored by the Committee on Judiciary), presents an interesting case of the role of legislative intent, in particular regarding federal case law. AB 2962 would to add Section 55.4 to the Civil Code, amend...
When attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel are drafting bills for California legislators, they often delete the word “includes” and substitute it with the word “means.” Why is that being done by these legislative lawyers? The following example comes...