Referral of Fiscal Bills in the California Legislature
Referral of Fiscal Bills in the California Legislature By Chris Micheli Recognizing that the California Legislature just completed its fiscal committee deadline for the 2025 Legislative Session, there have been quite a few questions regarding when bills have to be heard in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees and why some bills not “keyed” fiscal were still sent to the fiscal committees. By way of background, Joint Rule 10.5 specifies guidance to the attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) when determining whether a bill should be “keyed” as a fiscal bill. The “keying” of a bill is done by the drafting attorneys at OLC. It is not done by the fiscal committees, nor DOF or LAO. If the OLC determines that a bill is “fiscal,” then the measure will be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee in each house. The respectiv...