The Astounding Workload of the California Legislature’s Committees

The California Legislature has a combined 55 standing committees, with 33 in the Assembly and 22 in the Senate. There were 4,476 bills introduced during the 2021-22 Legislative Session. Those standing committees, and their hardworking consultants (along with their minority party counterparts), reviewed and analyzed thousands of bills during the past two years. 

The following charts provide the data for the original bill referrals to policy committees during the 2022 Session (meaning the first committee that received a bill from the Rules Committee):

2021-22 Assembly Committees and Original Bill Referrals

(Note that these figures do not include second committee referrals; and, Appropriations and Rules Committees are not included; historically, about 85% of all bills go through the Appropriations Committee)

Of the Assembly standing committees, they handled collectively a total of 2,733 ABs and 1,074 SBs during the 2021-22 Session.

2021-22 Senate Committees and Original Bill Referrals

(Note that these figures do not include second committee referrals; and, Appropriations and Rules Committees are not included; historically, about 85% of all bills go through the Appropriations Committee)

Of the Senate standing committees, they handled collectively a total of 1,039 SBs and 1,626 ABs during the 2021-22 Session.