Are Bills with Only Findings and Declarations Considered Substantive?

Are Bills with Only Findings and Declarations Considered Substantive? By Chris Micheli

            In the California Legislature, we know that bills that lack proposed substantive law changes are considered “placeholder” measures and generally do not get referred to a policy committee by the Senate or Assembly Rules Committees.

            In almost all instances, those placeholder bills are either spot bills or intent bills. A spot bill is one that make a nonsubstantive (or technical) change to an existing statute, while an intent bill simply expressed the intent of the Legislature to enact a bill on a particular topic (either general or specific). But what about a bill that provides just legislative findings and declarations?

            In some limited instances, an introduced bill may contain only findings and declarations. I have seen some that include a statement of intent following those findings and declarations, which would more likely be viewed as an intent bill, and therefore as a placeholder.

            The likely answer may be “it depends” whether such a bill would get referred to a policy committee. Perhaps the intent of the author (e.g., whether the bill’s author plans to make substantive changes to statutes) would come into play as well. Ultimately, it is up to a majority of the respective Rules Committee whether a bill is eligible for referral to a policy or fiscal committee.

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