Globe Contributor Releases Legislative Drafting Guidebook
There are also materials for drafting resolutions and constitutional amendments
By Katy Grimes, June 15, 2024 10:00 am
California Globe contributor, Chris Micheli, has just released his book to provide practical guidance on drafting the three types of measures used by the California Legislature: bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments. The book is called “Practical Guidance for Drafting Legislation in California.”
The book contains 85 chapters and is just over 200 pages in length. “Because California is one of about two dozen states that does not publish its legislative drafting manual, this practical guide is intended to fill that space for those who work with legislation in the State of California,” Micheli explained.
“As the bulk of legislative drafting involves bills, most of this practical guide is dedicated to bill drafting, but there are also materials for drafting resolutions and constitutional amendments,” he said. The guidebook also provides a checklist for drafting the three types of legislative measures.
The book is available in either print format or electronic format, and can be purchased at this webpage.
The following are the contents of this book:
I GENERAL GUIDANCE 1
1 Getting Started in Legislative Drafting 1
2 Forms of Statutes and Bills 4
3 General Drafting Guidance 6
4 Guidance for Making Legislation More Readable 12
5 Guidance for Drafting in the Active Voice 13
6 Guidance for Drafting Sentences in Legislative Measures 14
7 Guidance for Drafting Gender-Neutral Legislation 17
8 Drafting Guidance from the Constitution 19
9 Drafting Guidance from the Government Code 22
10 Drafting Guidance from the Legislature’s Joint Rules 26
11 Drafting Guidance from the Legislature’s House Rules 31
II BILLS 32
12 Parts of a Bill 32
13 General Outline for Drafting a Bill 34
14 Guidance for Drafting Bill Titles 37
15 Guidance for Drafting Legislative Counsel Digests 38
16 Guidance for Drafting a Bill’s “Keys” 39
17 Guidance for Drafting Headings in Statutes 42
18 Guidance for Drafting a Spot Bill 43
19 Guidance for Drafting an Intent Bill 45
20 Guidance for Using the Correct Reference in Bills 47
21 Guidance for Drafting a Public Right of Access Disclaimer 48
22 Guidance for Drafting a Municipal Affair Bill 50
23 Guidance for Drafting a Legislative Declaration for a Non-
Municipal Affair Bil 51
24 Guidance for Drafting Sunset Clauses 52
25 Guidance for Drafting Definitions in Statutes 53
26 Guidance for Drafting Legislative Statements 55
27 Guidance for Drafting Legislative Findings and
Declarations in Bills 57
28 Guidance for Drafting Statements of Legislative Intent 59
29 Guidance for Drafting an Appropriation Bill 61
30 Guidance for Drafting a Continuous Appropriation Bill 62
31 Guidance for Drafting an Appropriation Bill for
Public Assistance 65
32 Guidance for Drafting an Urgency Statute 66
33 Guidance for Drafting a Special or Local Statute 68
34 Guidance for Drafting a State Mandated Local Program Bill69
35 Guidance for Drafting a Tax Statute 73
36 Guidance for Drafting a Tax Levy Bill 77
37 Guidance for Drafting Double-Jointing Amendments 79
38 The Order of “Plus” Sections in Bills 80
39 Guidance for Drafting Preemption Provisions 84
40 Guidance for Drafting Contingencies in Bills 86
41 Guidance for Drafting a Local Government Finance Bill 87
42 Guidance for Drafting a Tribal Compact Bill 88
43 Guidance for Drafting a State Holiday Bill 90
44 Guidance for Drafting an MOU Bill 91
45 Guidance for Drafting a Criminal or Penal Statute 93
46 Checklist for Drafting a Criminal Law Statute 96
47 Guidance for Drafting a Bill to Regulate a Profession 97
48 Guidance for Drafting a New Program 99
49 Guidance for Drafting Forms or Charts in Statute 101
50 Guidance for Drafting Cross-References in Statutes 103
51 Guidance for Drafting the Term “Abrogate” 104
52 Guidance for Drafting the Term “Construe” 105
53 Guidance for Drafting Claims Bills 106
54 Guidance for Drafting the Creation of a New Entity 108
55 Guidance for Drafting a Statute to Call an Election 109
56 Guidance for Drafting a Study Bill 110
57 Guidance for Drafting Legislative Grants of
Rulemaking Authority 112
58 Guidance for Drafting a Tied-House Restriction
Exception Bill 114
59 Guidance for Drafting Validation Bills 116
60 Guidance for Drafting a Bill to Lease or Acquire
State Property 119
61 Guidance for Citing Statutes and Court Decisions in Bills 120
62 Guidance for Drafting Bond Bills 121
63 Guidance for Drafting Williamson Act Bills 125
64 Guidance for Drafting Bills to Create a Joint Powers Authority 126
65 Guidance for Drafting Severability or Savings Clauses 128
66 Guidance for Drafting a Retroactive Statute 130
67 Guidance for Drafting a “Declaratory of Existing
Law” Statute 131
68 Guidance for Drafting a Code Maintenance Bill 133
69 Guidance for Drafting UC System Education Policy Bills 135
70 Guidance for Using Model or Uniform Acts 137
71 Guidance for Drafting Provisions of the Budget Bill 139
72 Examples of Common Legislative Drafting Provisions 162
73 Checklist for Drafting Bills 181
74 Technical Changes to Existing Laws by the Office
of Legislative Counsel 185
75 Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Drafting 198
III RESOLUTIONS 203
76 Legislative Resolutions 203
77 Parts of a Resolution 204
78 Drafting Considerations for a Legislative Resolution 205
79 Checklist for Drafting House Resolutions 207
80 Checklist for Drafting Concurrent Resolutions 208
81 Checklist for Drafting Joint Resolutions 209
IV CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS 210
82 Constitutional Amendments 210
83 Parts of a Constitutional Amendment 212
84 Drafting Considerations for a Legislative Constitutional
Amendment 214
85 Checklist for Drafting Constitutional Amendments 216
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