Chris Micheli

Why Do California Bills Contain Reimbursement Disclaimers That Can Be Ignored?  By Chris Micheli             A common provision that readers may notice while reading a California bill is that, at the end of the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, there are four “Digest Keys,” which identify the vote required for passage of the bill, whether the bill contains an appropriation, whether the bill will be re-referred to a fiscal committee, and whether the bill contains a mandated local program. This last bill key will appear as either “ Local Program:  no” or “Local Program: yes.”             To begin, what is a mandated local program? Both the California Constitution and the California Government Code describe in detail a state-mandated local program. As a result of these laws, a California bill is identified as mandating or not mandating a local program that may require rei...

Three Items of Interest From the 2025 Budget Bill Junior By Chris Micheli In reviewing some of the provisions of the 2025 Budget Bill Junior, I came across these three items of particular interest: First, here are the listed trailer bills in the Budget Bill Junior, so these bills are related to the budget and subject to a majority vote under Prop. 25: SEC. 39.00. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the following bills are other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 12 of Article IV of the California Constitution:  AB 116, AB 117, AB 118, AB 119, AB 120, AB 121, AB 122, AB 123, AB 124, AB 125, AB 126, AB 127, AB 128, AB 129, AB 130, AB 131, AB 132, AB 133, AB 134, AB 135, AB 136, AB 137, AB 138, AB 139, AB 140, AB 141, AB 142, AB 143, AB 144, AB 145, SB 116, SB 117, SB 118, SB 119, SB 120, SB 121, SB 122, SB 123, SB 124, SB 125, SB 126, SB 127, SB 128, SB 129, SB 130, SB 131, SB 132, SB 133, SB...

Why California Needs Multiple Budget Trailer Bills  By Chris Micheli             Questions have often been raised about why there are so many trailer bills needed as part of the budget process in California. The number has grown over the past couple of decades and this has been a recurring concern. However, there is a legal reason for this. According to the Office of Legislative Counsel, the practice of enacting budget implementation bills began in the 1978–1979 fiscal year. Between that time and the enactment of an omnibus trailer bill in 1984, several “trailer bills” (they were called “implementation bills” by the high court) were passed to make “adjustments” to the budget. At that point, the California Supreme Court, in its Harbor v. Deukmejian decision in 1984, set forth its interpretation of the single subject rule. By way of background, the California Constitution, in Article IV, Section 9, reads, in part, as follo...

The Format and Style of California’s Budget Bill  By Chris Micheli             In the Budget Bill adopted each year prior to the start of the state’s fiscal year on July 1, there is a bill section that actually sets forth the format and style of the budget. In SB/AB 101, the 2025-26 Budget Bill, these provisions are contained in Section 1.50.             Section 1.50(a) begins with a statement of legislative intent regarding compliance with three specified sections of the California Government Code. Subdivision (a) provides, in part, that “it is the intent of the Legislature that this act and other financial transactions authorized outside of this act utilize a coding scheme or structure compatible with the Governor’s Budget, the records of the Controller in legacy systems, and the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal), and provide for the appropriation o...

What About 2-year Bills?  By Chris Micheli             Since the house of origin deadline on June 6, there have been quite a few inquiries about so-called “2-year bills,” also known as “carryover bills.” What are they and can they be taken up before next year?             These types of measures are set forth in the California Constitution. Article IV, Section 10(c) reads, in part: “(c) Any bill introduced during the first year of the biennium of the legislative session that has not been passed by the house of origin by January 31 of the second calendar year of the biennium may no longer be acted on by the house.”             As a result of this constitutional provision (which cannot be waived or suspended), a bill introduced only in the first year of the Legislative Session (i.e., the odd-numbered year) can ...

Some Legislative Drafting Notes  By Chris Micheli             In reviewing hundreds of bills during the House of Origin deadline week, I came across several provisions of legislation worth reviewing. The following are some of the notes I took: Amending a Voter Initiative In a bill amending a bond measure, the Legislative Counsel’s Digest explained that the California Wildlife, Coastal, and Park Land Conservation Act, an initiative measure approved by the voters in the June 7, 1988, statewide primary election, provided bond funds for wildlife, coastal, and parkland conservation. The initiative measure authorizes the act to be amended by  a  2 / 3  vote of the Legislature if the amendment is consistent with the purposes of the act. Specifically, in Section 6 of the ballot measure, it provides: “The Legislature may amend this act. by statute passed in each house of the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in...