As readers know, in California, the Governor has three options when a bill reaches the Governor’s Desk: sign the bill (and it becomes law), veto the bill (and the bill does not become law, unless the Legislature overrides the veto),...
This article has been updated to explain a correction. “In response to pandemic problems, EDD unveils massive reform initiative.” A headline that anyone has seen? Nope. A headline that should have been seen? Yup. A headline Governor Newsom and the legislature...
One of the key principles in legislative drafting is consistency in language, including definitions. In looking at who is a business, there lacks the same definition across state law. In fact, California law provides dozens of different definitions of “business”...
When drafting legislation in California, there are several sources of guidance in drafting bills and other forms of legislation (resolutions and constitutional amendments). The second source is the California Government Code. What legislation drafting guidance is contained in the state...
Readers of California legislation are familiar with legislative findings and declarations, usually contained in Section 1 of a bill, prior to the substantive language being set forth in the remainder of the bill. These findings and declarations of the Legislature...
Even by national standards, state ballot initiative campaigns in California are big time politics. You can run a campaign for U.S. Senator in most states in America for less than it costs to qualify and successfully campaign to pass a...
A bill in the California Legislature can be short or long in its length, and simple or complex in its provisions. Nonetheless, the following examples constitute the general outline of a bill in California as drafted by the Office of...