A Look at the 2022 Legislative Session Bill Introductions

Friday, February 18, was the last day to introduce bills for the 2022 California Legislative Session. Yesterday, we saw 611 bills introduced between the two houses on the final day of introductions. By comparison, in 2021, there were 539 bills introduced and, in 2020, there were just over 700 bills introduced on the last day.

There was a total of 2,020 bills introduced for this 2022 Session between the Senate and Assembly, including 1,461 bills introduced during the last week alone. In 2021, there were 1,252 bills introduced the last week.

Of the 2,020 total bills introduced by yesterday’s deadline, there were 1,361 Assembly Bills (compared to 1,560 ABs last year) and 659 Senate Bills (compared to 809 SBs last year) introduced by the deadline.

So, how does that number compare to other years? Over the past decade, there have been between 1,900 to 2,200 bills introduced in the second year of Session, which places 2022 bills introductions in the middle. Below is a listing of bill introductions by the deadline for the past nine years.

• Total 2021 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,369
• Total 2020 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,203
• Total 2019 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,576
• Total 2018 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,177
• Total 2017 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,495
• Total 2016 bill introductions as of the deadline: 1,993
• Total 2015 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,297
• Total 2014 bill introductions as of the deadline: 1,930
• Total 2013 bill introductions as of the deadline: 2,256

As can be seen, as a general rule, the second year of the 2-year Legislative Session has fewer bill introductions than the first year.

In regards to intent bills this year, there were a total of 181 as of Friday’s deadline. That total number includes 121 ABs and 60 SBs. In regards to spot bills this year, there were a total of 458 as of Friday’s deadline. That total number includes 300 ABs and 158 SBs.

In 2021, there were 396 intent bills, including 231 ABs and 165 SBs. In 2021, there were 381 spot bills, including 254 ABs and 127 SBs. Hence, at the time of introduction, 777 introduced bills last year did not have any substantive provisions.

Note that all the figures above only include bills; they do not include resolutions or constitutional amendments. And, of course, committees can still introduce bills past yesterday’s deadline, rule waivers can be granted, etc. As a result, the final number of introduced bills each year are a dozen or so more than the figures listed in the chart above. In broad terms, historically about 40% of all bills introduced become statutes.