A Look at Committee Bills in the California Legislature

What are committee bills? In addition to bills being authored by State Senators and State Assembly Members, the 33 Assembly Standing Committees and 22 Senate Standing Committees can also “author” bills. This is authorized by the Joint Rules and individual house rules.

Joint Rule 54(a), titled “Introduction of Bills,” specifies that the bill introduction deadline does not apply to “committee bills introduced pursuant to Assembly Rule 47 or Senate Rule 23.” Assembly Rule 47(d) allows the Assembly Committee on Budget to introduce a bill that is “germane to any subject within the jurisdiction of the committee in the same manner as any Member.” Iin addition, AR 47(d) provides that “any other standing committee may introduce a total of five bills in each year of a biennial session that are germane to any subject within the proper consideration of the committee.”

In addition, Assembly Rule 47(f) requires a committee bill to be introduced by a majority of all of the committee members, including the chairperson. “If all of the members of a committee sign the bill, at the option of the committee chairperson the committee members’ names need not appear as authors in the heading of the printed bill.” This requires documentation of the signatories.

Senate Rule 23 is titled, “Introduction of Bills by a Committee,” and it provide that a Senate standing committee may introduce a bill germane to any subject within the proper consideration of the committee in the same manner as any Member. However, a committee bill is required to contain the signatures of all of the members of the committee. In addition, “a committee may amend into a bill related provisions germane to the subject and embraced within the title and, with the consent of the author, may constitute that bill a committee bill.”

I was reminded of a key difference between the Assembly and Senate processes (thank you, Brenda Heiser) for committee bills. In the Assembly, a majority of the committee members (including the Chair) must agree to author a committee bill. However, in the Senate, a committee bill must contain the signatures of every member of the committee.