California Legislature Archives

Largest Budget in CA History ‘Falls Short’: $2 billion in New Tax Increases and Lots of Pork

June 13, 2019 5:47 pmJune 14, 2019 1:41 pm

Thursday, the California State Legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2019-20 budget along party lines. At $215 billion, it is the largest budget in the history of the state due to new tax increases and hundreds of millions of last minute...

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What is Grassroots Lobbying?

May 31, 2019 7:59 amMay 31, 2019 9:11 am

Grassroots lobbying is an important component of successful lobbying because it is complimentary to direct lobbying of elected officials and their staff to influence their decisions. Grassroots lobbying is sometime referred to as “indirect lobbying,” as opposed to “direct lobbying”...

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The Do’s and (mostly) Don’ts of Legislative Branch Provisions

May 24, 2019 8:00 amMay 24, 2019 8:10 am

Here are some interesting provisions about the legislative branch found in state statutes (along with the relevant section): Article 1 deals with legislative compensation and is covered in Sections 8902 and 8903. When legislators are in Sacramento to attend a...

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Deadlines Looming Ahead in the California Bill Mill

May 20, 2019 11:53 amMay 21, 2019 7:26 am

With the Suspense Files behind us and the May 31 House of Origin deadline approaching, the following are the number of bills being debated and voted on in the Senate and Assembly Floors as of Monday: Senate Floor Senate 2nd Reading...

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‘Gut-and-Amend Bills’ in the California Legislature

May 17, 2019 8:21 amMay 17, 2019 8:28 am

One of the controversial occurrences during the annual California Legislative Session is so-called “gut-and-amend bills.” According to the Legislative Counsel, these measures are defined as “when amendments to a bill remove the current contents in their entirety and replace them...

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California ‘Pre-Crime’ Bill to Root Out Potential Criminals

April 25, 2019 7:39 amApril 26, 2019 6:09 am

Gun Owners of California issued a dire warning this week about “pre-crime” legislation to prohibit people likely to commit a crime from owning a gun. SB 55 by Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), would create a new class of...

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UFW Leadership Change Highlights Enduring Problems

April 24, 2019 12:48 pmApril 25, 2019 7:39 am

Last fall the United Farm Workers announced that its president, Arturo Rodriguez, would be stepping down after 25 years at the helm of the controversial union. Teresa Romero has since taken his place, accompanied by some glowing articles about her....