California Legislature – Page 107

California State Assembly nearly empty except for a few folks in the balcony.

Appropriating Funds or Not in California Bills

March 16, 2022 6:55 amMarch 16, 2022 6:56 am

California bills can and do appropriate monies from the General Fund or special funds. In other bills, appropriations are specifically not made, even though they may otherwise be required by existing law. Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget...

Validation Bills in the California Legislature

March 15, 2022 8:39 amMarch 15, 2022 11:40 am

Each year, the Legislature enacts a series of “validation bills” which enact the First Validating Act, Second Validating Act, and Third Validating Act. These Acts are intended to validate the organization, boundaries, acts, proceedings, and bonds of the state and...

Bills That Need to Go Before Voters

March 13, 2022 10:10 amMarch 13, 2022 10:15 am

Even though a statute is created by a bill (or by an initiative measure), the California Legislature in certain instances must place a bill before the voters. According to Elections Code Section 9040: Every constitutional amendment, bond measure, or other...

How Might the State Legislature Look for the New Session?

March 12, 2022 7:35 amMarch 12, 2022 3:24 pm

As Friday, March 11 was the filing deadline for candidates for the California State Legislature (although seats without an incumbent running get an extra week to file), we can look at the 120 legislative seats and see what changes are...

What Does a Bill Propose to Do to a Law?

March 11, 2022 7:52 amMarch 11, 2022 11:19 am

Bills in the California Legislature can do one of three things or a combination of those three: Add a statute; amend a statute; or, repeal a statute. Bills can be found at the following website: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ This website is maintained...

A sea of empty desks inside the California State Assembly

Should California Bills Use ‘Includes’ or ‘Means?’

March 10, 2022 9:19 amMarch 10, 2022 9:22 am

When attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel are drafting bills for California legislators, they often delete the word “includes” and substitute it with the word “means.” Why is that being done by these legislative lawyers? The following example comes...

California’s Retroactive v. Prospective Legislation

March 8, 2022 6:49 amMarch 8, 2022 6:56 am

In most instances, legislation applies prospectively, meaning after the law has been enacted and takes effect. Nonetheless, there are times when the Legislature desires statutes to be applied retroactively, and sometimes they also specify a prospective application date. The following...