Office of Legislative Counsel Archives

Bill ‘Corrections’ – What Are They?

April 25, 2022 6:37 amApril 25, 2022 6:48 am

While California bills do make corrections to existing statutes by amending them, readers may occasionally come across the word “Correction” located at the bottom of a bill. What does that mean? The following are recent examples found on the last...

What Is a Tax Levy in California Legislation?

April 9, 2022 9:31 amApril 9, 2022 9:36 am

There is often confusion regarding whether a bill is a tax levy or not, and what a “tax levy” means. A common misconception is that a tax levy is a bill that proposes a tax increase. The determination of whether...

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...

Modernizing California Statutes

March 6, 2022 8:20 amMarch 6, 2022 8:27 am

As new legislation is considered in the California Legislature, it is incumbent on the attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel to update and modernize state statutes. There are examples of this ongoing effort throughout California bills and is an...

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 State Senate Going Back to Remote Voting for Members

January 8, 2022 11:32 amJanuary 8, 2022 12:09 pm

The California Globe heard from a member of the State Senate Friday evening that they won’t be shutting down for two weeks, but will be going back to remote voting – because COVID. Again. This, despite that Office of Legislative...

Intent Bills Are Not Spot Bills and Vice Versa

December 8, 2021 2:42 pmDecember 8, 2021 3:41 pm

Quite often bills introduced in the California Legislature without substantive language in them are called “spot bills.” However, that is not always the case even though both spot and intent bills act as placeholders with substantive amendments to be added...