legislation – Page 15 – California Globe

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...

What Does the Term ‘Construe’ Mean in California Statutes?

March 9, 2022 9:53 amMarch 9, 2022 9:58 am

While continuing to read through proposed new laws for the 2022 California Legislative Session, I occasionally come by a bill that uses the term “construed” and it mostly is used in a negative form. The word “construe” basically means to...

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...

Speaking in an Affirmative Voice in Legislation

February 26, 2022 8:34 amFebruary 26, 2022 8:53 am

The California Legislature has taken the approach of changing existing statutes to reflect an affirmative or active voice, rather than a negative voice, in legislation. As a result, the Office of Legislative Counsel is changing statutes to reflect this approach....

California Bills with Public’s Right of Access Disclaimers

February 20, 2022 12:22 pmFebruary 20, 2022 8:25 am

Have you ever read a bill and found a section at the end of the bill discussing the public’s right of access being limited by the bill? The following is an example from a recently-introduced bill in the California Legislature:...

Does the Governor Have 12 or 30 Days to Act on Bills?

January 5, 2022 3:09 pmJanuary 5, 2022 2:14 pm

A commonly-misunderstood item in the California legislative process is determining whether the Governor has 12 days to take action on a bill, or 30 days. The general rule is that the Governor has 12 days to act, once a bill...