Chris Micheli

Public Testimony and the Suspense Files  By Chris Micheli             With the 2026 Suspense Files being considered on May 14, several colleagues have asked about public testimony on these items.             When I first began lobbying, legislators presented their bills regardless of whether the measures were slated for the Suspense Files. In fact, there were many Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees that lasted most of the day as authors, witnesses, and committee members debated the fiscal and policy implications of a bill that was presented for consideration.             Over the last two decades, bills slated for the respective Suspense Files have almost always had no author presentation. In fact, some fiscal committee chairs in the past have openly discouraged authors from presenting their bills that ...

Certain Bill Statements Are Not Opinions  By Chris Micheli What is the point of legislative intent statements and findings and declarations in California bills? To me, these are separate, distinct words included in a statute. Findings and declarations provide the foundation or basis for the bill. What is the factual basis for the new statute being proposed or the amendments to an existing statute? How do those fact-based statements justify the proposed law changes in the bill? Statements of legislative intent should express the desired outcome to be achieved by the proposed law changes. No commentary or explanation is necessary or appropriate. Rather, what is the stated goal or desired outcome that the Legislature would like when these law changes are in effect? To me, I do not believe these statements are opinions or unsubstantiated statements. When in a bill, whether ultimately codified or uncodified, they will become the law of the State of California. As such, they...

Should There Be Blanket PRA Exemptions in Bills?  By Chris Micheli             Have you seen this provision while reading bills in the California Legislature?   Contracts, grants, and related information created or obtained pursuant to this provision shall not be made public and are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).              What is the meaning of this language? It provides an outright exemption from the requirements of California’s Public Records Act (PRA), which is intended to allow public access to government records and documents.             By way of background, the PRA covers “public records” of public agencies, including state and local government (the Legislature has its own law...

Legal Standing of Associations to Sue  By Chris Micheli What is “legal standing”? Sometimes known by the Latin term, locus standi , it is the right of a person or entity to file a lawsuit or participate in a legal proceeding in state or federal court. It is essentially a legal threshold that must be met before a court can consider the merits of the lawsuit that has been filed.             As a general rule, in the federal court system, there is a requirement that a “case or controversy” exist. On the other hand, in California, no such requirement exists because the California Constitution does not contain a “case or controversy” requirement and the courts do not consider public interest standing to violate the California Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine in Article III, Section 3. Nonetheless, similar to the federal “case or controversy” requirement, California’s standing requirement serves “to ensure that the ...

Introduction to Regulatory Drafting  By Chris Micheli             What is regulatory drafting? Regulatory drafting or regulations drafting is the work done by state executive branch officials in agencies, departments, boards, commissions, and bureaus that have rulemaking authority under the California Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Of course, regulations can also be drafted by attorneys, lobbyists, interest groups, and others who want to propose the addition, amendment, or repeal of regulations in the California Code of Regulations (CCR).             As opposed to legislative drafting of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments to be considered by the Legislature, regulatory drafting concerns the lawmaking that is done by the executive branch of government in California. There are more than 200 state entities that have authority to adopt regulations. ...

Courts Removing Statewide Measures from the Ballot  By Chris Micheli Have courts removed measures from the statewide ballot in California? The answer is yes. In fact, the judicial branch has done so recently in three instances. The most recent example was in 2024, when the qualified measure for the statewide ballot, called the California Two-Thirds Legislative Vote and Voter Approval for New or Increased Taxes Initiative, was removed by the California Supreme Court, which ruled that the proposed measure amounted to an impermissible revision of the state Constitution and therefore could not go before the voters. This measure was prevented from being placed on the ballot despite having obtained the requisite number of voter signatures to qualify. In 2018, the California Supreme Court removed a measure from the statewide ballot. It was Prop. 9, called the Three States Initiative. It was removed because the court determined that “the potential harm in permitting the measure to re...