Can a Bill Do More Than Add, Amend, or Repeal a Statute?

Generally, bills in the California Legislature do one of three things: add, amend, or repeal. In other words, a bill can add a new section of law, amend an existing section of law, or repeal an existing section of law. Of course, in addition to affecting a single section of the Codes, a bill can do one of those things to a Division, Part, Chapter, Article, etc.

However, these bills in California can do more than those three tasks, basically a combination of one or more of the above. As a result, a bill in California can actually do one of six things:

• Amend
• Amend and renumber
• Amend and repeal
• Add
• Repeal and add
• Repeal

While some of these do not occur often, attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel see bills that do one or more of these regularly. As a result, it is important for the bill drafter to be familiar with each item and how they work and may interact in a single bill.