California Bills with Yet-to-be-determined Provisions

From time-to-time, the California Legislature considers bills that still need to be fully written. So long as those “missing” provisions are filled-in and completed by the time of final passage, this approach is permissible and is occasionally used when the bill’s author has not made final decisions about provisions for the bill.

The following examples of “missing” provisions are taken from recently-introduced bills in the 2022 Legislative Session:

On or before ____, an unspecified state agency shall establish criteria and an application process for purposes of designating an area of the coastline as a state surfing reserve.

OR

Once the application is approved, the unspecified state agency shall designate the area as a _____ and shall include this designation in any publications or maps that are issued by the unspecified state agency.

OR

The department shall impose a penalty of up to ____ dollars ($____) on an employer who violates this section.

In most instances, the first policy committee in the house of origin will require the author to fill-in-the-blanks and have a “finished” product for that hearing. However, sometimes, a bill begins its legislative journey in a semi-complete state and final decisions are made later in the process, such as in the second house policy committee.