legislators Archives - Page 2 of 2

Does Legislative Intent Language Trump Statutory Language?

October 12, 2020 6:18 amOctober 12, 2020 11:09 am

As we examine instances where a bill in the California Legislature contains both statutory changes (by amending, adding or repealing code sections) and legislative intent statements (usually in the form of findings and declarations), we expect these two types of...

California’s Slippery Slope of Legislating Health Care

July 21, 2020 2:29 pmJuly 21, 2020 2:51 pm

Few of us today were alive during the New Deal Era when the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis spoke about states being the laboratories of democracy. California above all other states embodies that sentiment and leads the nation in...

Picking the Right Bill Author to Be Your Legislative Champion

January 5, 2020 9:07 amJanuary 5, 2020 9:08 am

It is often a time-consuming and sometimes daunting task to find just the right author for a bill to introduce in the California Legislature. How do some lobbyists pick the right bill author? While there is no cookie-cutter approach to...

Judging the Qualifications of Members of the California Legislature

December 23, 2019 6:09 amDecember 23, 2019 6:29 am

California Constitution Article IV, Section 5(a)(1) specifies: “Each house of the Legislature shall judge the qualifications and elections of its Members and, by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring, may expel a Member.” The courts...