Chris Micheli – Page 326 – California Globe

Drafting a Bill to Regulate a Profession

October 17, 2020 7:52 amOctober 17, 2020 1:28 pm

On occasion, the bill drafter will need to create a new regulatory scheme as legislators intend to regulate a profession or occupation that has not previously been subject to regulation. As a general rule, the intent of regulating a profession...

Drafting a Bill’s Title

October 16, 2020 2:25 amOctober 16, 2020 6:08 am

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9 of the California Constitution, there is a requirement for each bill to have a title. The constitutional provision states: “A statute shall embrace but one subject, which shall be expressed in its title. If...

California’s Reenactment Rule

October 15, 2020 2:36 amOctober 16, 2020 6:08 am

California’s Constitution, in Article IV, Section 9, provides “A section of a statute may not be amended unless the section is re-enacted as amended.” What does that mean? According to the courts, the purpose of the constitutional reenactment rule, which...

Additional Bill Drafting Guidelines

October 14, 2020 6:33 amOctober 14, 2020 12:43 pm

The following are some additional guidelines for successfully drafting legislation in California: Rules of Punctuation Punctuation is an important part of drafting legislation and the punctuation rules should be used consistently and properly. The bill drafter should know these rules...

Why Might a Bill Be Declared Unconstitutional?

October 13, 2020 6:24 amOctober 14, 2020 12:42 pm

On occasion, a California statute in challenged in state or federal court as possibly violating the California or United States Constitutions. What might be the basis for these constitutional challenges of state-enacted statutes? One basis is “vagueness,” which essentially means...

California Enacts a Slew of New Employment Laws

October 12, 2020 12:54 pmOctober 12, 2020 3:12 pm

As we have seen over the past decade, California’s Legislature enacted a large number of new labor and employment laws as it concluded its 2020 Legislative Session. The first section of this article looks at some of the key bills...

Does Legislative Intent Language Trump Statutory Language?

October 12, 2020 6:18 amOctober 12, 2020 11:09 am

As we examine instances where a bill in the California Legislature contains both statutory changes (by amending, adding or repealing code sections) and legislative intent statements (usually in the form of findings and declarations), we expect these two types of...