Handbook on Legislative Drafting in California

My new “Handbook on Legislative Drafting in California” has been published by Kendall-Hunt. This handbook contains 290 chapters and I hope for it to be a useful handbook for those involved or interested in drafting legislation in this state.

It is available in a print edition or Ebook version. Here is the link to purchase the handbook:

https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/handbook-legislative-drafting-california

The following are the handbook’s Table of Contents:

Introduction

Overview of Legislative Drafting in California

Chapter 1        Legislative Drafting – An Introduction

Chapter 2        The Role of the Legislative Counsel

Chapter 3        The Job of the California Bill Drafter

Chapter 4        Modernizing California Statutes

Chapter 5        Eliminating Legalese in California Statutes

Chapter 6        Judges Should Better Appreciate the Legislative Process and Bill Drafting Principles

Chapter 7       Federal Constitutional Limits on Legislatures

Chapter 8       Is Plagiarism Allowed in Bill Drafting?

Chapter 9       How Complicated Can Bill Drafting Become?

Chapter 10     Active Versus Passive Voice in Legislation

Chapter 11     What Are All the Legislative Measures?

California Legislature and Legislative Process

Chapter 12      Overview of the California Legislature

Chapter 13      Overview of the California Legislative Process

Chapter 14      Key Differences between the Assembly and Senate in the Legislative Process

Chapter 15      Different Vote Requirements for California Legislative Actions and Bills

Chapter 16      Overview of California’s Budget Process

Chapter 17      What Happens in the First Part of the Legislative Session?

Chapter 18      What Happens in the Middle Part of the Legislative Session?

Chapter 19      What Happens in the Last Part of the Legislative Session?

Chapter 20      Delegation of Authority by the Legislature

Chapter 21      A Look at the 72-Hours in Print Rule

Chapter 22      How Is a Bill “In Print” When It Will Be Amended Days Later?

Chapter 23      The Legislative Privilege

Chapter 24      Limits on Certain Types of Legislative Measures

Chapter 25      Legislature Telling Agencies How to Act

Chapter 26      What Are Committee Bills?

Chapter 27      Joint Rule 26.5 Explained

Chapter 28      Two Types of Author’s Amendments

Chapter 29      What Is Being Amended by Bill Amendments?

Chapter 30      Rules That Apply and Do Not Apply to Special Session Bills

Chapter 31      Named Legislative Acts

Chapter 32      The Second Bill Introduction Deadline than in the Constitution

Chapter 33      Higher Vote Threshold

California Legislative Publications

Chapter 34      Overview of California’s Legislative Publications

Chapter 35       What is the Legislative Index?

Chapter 36       What is the Table of Sections Affected?

Chapter 37       What is the Statutory Record?

Chapter 38       What is the New Laws Report?

Chapter 39       Role of Mason’s Manual

Chapter 40       Flagging Items for Bill Searches

Overview of California Laws

Chapter 41      Where to Find California Laws

Chapter 42      Codified Versus Uncodified Laws

Chapter 43      General Provisions of California Codes

Chapter 44      California’s “Plain English” Statutes

Chapter 45      Researching the Legislative History of an Enacted California Statute

Chapter 46      The Enrolled Bill Rule in California

Chapter 47      California Law and Its “Maxims of Jurisprudence”

Chapter 48      Effective Versus Operative Dates of Statutes

Chapter 49      Retroactivity of California Statutes

Chapter 50      Types of Legislative Measures

Chapter 51      Statutes Other than Codes

Chapter 52      Headings in California Law

Chapter 53      Forms Used in Statutes

Chapter 54      Grants of Rulemaking Authority

Chapter 55      Why Do California Codes Have General Provisions?

Chapter 56      Misspelling Found in California Statutes?

Chapter 57      What Is a Substantive Change in the Law?

Chapter 58      Use of Parentheticals in California Statutes

Chapter 59      Statutes, State Agencies, and the Administrative Procedure Act

Chapter 60      Classification of Counties and Statutes

Statutory Construction in California

Chapter 61      California’s Use of Statutory Construction in Statutes

Chapter 62      Some Commonly-codified Statutory Interpretation Principles

Chapter 63      Basic Guidelines for Statutory Construction

Chapter 64      Legislative Intent and California Courts

Chapter 65      The Connection Between Judges and Bill Drafters

Chapter 66      Should Legislative Intent Statements Be Codified?

Chapter 67      Publishing Letters to the Journal for Determining Legislative Intent

Chapter 68      Does Legislative Intent Language Trump Statutory Language?

Chapter 69      Are Legislative Findings and Declarations Necessary in Legislation?

Chapter 70      California’s Reenactment Rule

Chapter 71      Legislative Statutes and Cases Interpreting Them

Chapter 72      Some Differences in Drafting Types of Legislative Measures

Chapter 73      Why Might a Bill Be Declared Unconstitutional?

Chapter 74      Is There a Difference Between Vagueness and Ambiguity>

Chapter 75      Should There Be a Distinction among Legislative History Items?

Chapter 76      Legislative History and Intent – What Is the Difference?

Chapter 77      Canon of Statutory Construction – Last Antecedent

Chapter 78      Canon of Statutory Construction – Noscitur

Chapter 79      Canon of Statutory Construction – Ejusdem

Chapter 80      Canon of Statutory Construction – Expressio

Chapter 81      Canon of Statutory Construction – Rule against Surplusage

Chapter 82      Canon of Statutory Construction – Whole Act Rule

Chapter 83      Canon of Statutory Construction – In pari Materia

Chapter 84      Canon of Statutory Construction – Rule of Lenity

Chapter 85      Canon of Statutory Construction – Constitutional Avoidance

Chapter 86      Liberally Construing Statutes

Chapter 87      Statutes Codifying Court Decisions

Chapter 88      Declarations of Existing Law

Chapter 89      Interpreting Statutes Using Legislative Guidance

Chapter 90      Bills Citing Statutes and Court Decisions

Chapter 91      Courts Determining Severability

Chapter 92      Courts Delving into Legislative Intent

Chapter 93      Can Legislation Affect Pending Litigation?

Chapter 94      Intent and Policy Statements in Bills

Chapter 95      Interesting Statements of Intent

Chapter 96      Include a Policy or Intent Statement with Legislative Findings?

Chapter 97      Legislative Findings in Lottery Act Bills

Chapter 98      Legislature’s Intent Instructions

Chapter 99      Legislative Findings in CCPA Bills

Chapter 100   Findings Versus Intent Statements

Chapter 101   Express Versus Implied Repeals

California Bill Drafting Rules

Chapter 102    Drafting Rules from the Constitution

Chapter 103    Drafting Rules from the Government Code

Chapter 104    Drafting Rules from the Legislature’s Joint Rules

Chapter 105    Drafting Rules from the Legislature’s House Rules

Chapter 106    Preparing to Amend or Repeal Laws

Chapter 107    Four Stages of Preparing Legislation

Chapter 108    Transitional Versus Saving Provisions

Chapter 109     The Seven Cs of Basic Legislative Drafting

Chapter 110     Drafting Bills and Amendments

Chapter 111     California Bill Drafting Considerations

Chapter 112     Senate Rules Applicable to the Drafting of Legislation

Chapter 113     Assembly Rules Applicable to the Drafting of Legislation

Chapter 114     Key Reminders in Drafting Legislation

Chapter 115     Considerations in Drafting California Legislation

Chapter 116     Special Rules for Drafting Legislation

Chapter 117     Additional Bill Drafting Guidelines

Chapter 118    Making Legislation More Readable

Chapter 119    Guidelines for Forming Legislative Sentences

Chapter 120    Punctuation in California Legislation

Chapter 121    The Use of Definitions in Legislation

Chapter 122    Gender-Neutral Legislative Drafting

Chapter 123    Affirmative Voice in Legislation

Chapter 124   Specific Bill Drafting Guidance

Chapter 125   Conflict in California Legislation

Chapter 126   “That” Versus “Which”

Chapter 127   “Shall” Versus “May“

Chapter 128   More on Drafting Definitions

Chapter 129   Intriguing Timing Definitions in Statute

Drafting Bills in California

Chapter 130     Bills

Chapter 131    The Anatomy of a Bill

Chapter 132    General Outline of a Bill

Chapter 133    Reading a Bill to Understand What It Proposes to Do

Chapter 134    Correct Version of a Bill

Chapter 135    Can a Bill Take Just Three Actions?

Chapter 136    Amend Repeal Add Bills

Chapter 137    Order of Bill Authors

Chapter 138    Main Actions a Bill Takes

Chapter 139   Which Phrase to Use

Chapter 140   Provisos in California Law

Chapter 141    Types of Bills

Chapter 142    Provisions of a Bill

Chapter 143    The Legislative Counsel’s Digest

Chapter 144   Drafting Legislative Counsel Digests

Chapter 145    A Bill’s “Keys” – What Are They?

Chapter 146    Drafting a Bill’s Title

Chapter 147    Order of Items in a Bill Title

Chapter 148    Order of Enumeration

Chapter 149    Drafting Definitions in California Statutes

Chapter 150    Amendments to Bills

Chapter 151    What to Look for in a Bill

Chapter 152    Types of Bill Amendments in the California Legislature

Chapter 153    California Legislation and the Single Subject Rule

Chapter 154    ‘Spot Bills’ in the California Legislature

Chapter 155     Spot Bills Versus Intent Bills

Chapter 156     How to Draft a Spot Bill

Chapter 157     How to Draft an Intent Bill

Chapter 158     Are Findings and Declarations Bills Substantive

Chapter 159     ‘Gut-and-Amend Bills’ in the California Legislature

Chapter 160     Retroactive Versus Prospective Bills

Chapter 161    General Versus Special Statutes

Chapter 162    Urgency Clause Statutes in California Legislation

Chapter 163    Determining Whether Amendments Are Germane

Chapter 164    Severability or Savings Clauses in California Bills

Chapter 165    The Use of Sunset Dates in California Legislation

Chapter 166    State Mandated Local Programs

Chapter 167    Making Sense of Technical Amendments

Chapter 168   Guidelines for Drafting Bill Titles

Chapter 169   Guidelines for Drafting Bill Summaries

Chapter 170   Guidelines for Drafting Legislative Statements

Chapter 171   Guidelines for Drafting Uniform Acts

Chapter 172   Layering of Penalties and Remedies

Chapter 173    Using Cross References

Chapter 174    Using Acronyms in Statutes

Chapter 175    Using “Includes” Versus “Means” in Bills

Chapter 176    Using the Term “Construe” in Statutes

Chapter 177    Using the Term “Abrogate”

Chapter 178    Using Correct References in Bills and Statutes

Chapter 179    Bills Contain Two Sections and Two Amendments

Chapter 180    What Happens to Technical Law Changed in a Vetoed Bill?

Chapter 181    Companion Bills

Chapter 182    Use of Display Bills

Chapter 183    Bill Drafting Checklists

Specialized Provisions of Bills

Chapter 184    Why Bills Have Certain Provisions

Chapter 185    Special Statute Statements in Bills

Chapter 186    Technical Changes Made to Existing Statutes by Legislative Counsel

Chapter 187    Unusual Sections of California Bills

Chapter 188    Notwithstanding Clauses

Chapter 189    Double-jointing Amendments

Chapter 190    Saving Clauses

Chapter 191    Deferral Clauses

Chapter 192    Right of Public Access Disclaimers

Chapter 193    Legislative Findings in Political Reform Act Bills

Chapter 194    Municipal Affair Bills

Chapter 195    Drafting Sunset Clauses

Chapter 196    Order of Plus Sections

Chapter 197    Bill Corrections

Chapter 198    Bills with yet-to-be-determined Provisions

Chapter 199    Contingencies in Legislation

Chapter 200    Preemption Legislation

Chapter 201    Private Rights of Action in California Legislation

Chapter 202    Section 2230 Disclaimers in Bills

Chapter 203    Gift of Public Funds Disclaimer

Chapter 204    Automatic Repeal of Reporting Requirements in Bills

Chapter 205    Legislative Findings in Lottery Act Bills

Chapter 206    Why California Bills Do Not Use the Term “and/or”

Chapter 207    Intriguing Timing Definitions in Bills

Chapter 208    Bill with Numerous Notwithstanding Clauses

Chapter 209    Different Type of Contingent Enactment Amendments

Chapter 210    Unique Severability Clause

Chapter 211     Are Severability Clauses Needed?

Chapter 212    Expressions of Limitation

Chapter 213    What Is a Tax Levy in California Legislation?

Chapter 214    Section 2229 Waivers in Bills

Chapter 215    Prop. 63 Legislative Findings

Chapter 216   Saving Versus Grandfathering Clauses

Chapter 217   Types of Penalties in Statute

Chapter 218   Layering Penalties or Remedies

Fiscal and Budget Bills in California

Chapter 219    What Is an ‘Appropriations Measure?

Chapter 220    Joint Rule 10.5 and California Fiscal Bills

Chapter 221    Closer Look at Appropriations Bills

Chapter 222    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part I

Chapter 223    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part II

Chapter 224    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part III

Chapter 225    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part IV

Chapter 226    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part V

Chapter 227    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part VI

Chapter 228    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part VII

Chapter 229    Unique Provisions of California’s Budget Bill – Part VIII

Chapter 230    Constitutional Rules for the State Budget

Chapter 231    Standard Sections in a Budget Bill

Chapter 232    Continuous Appropriation Bills

Chapter 233    Do Continuous Appropriations Bind a Future Legislature?

Chapter 234    Drafting Bond Bills

Chapter 235    Appropriating Funds

Chapter 236    Bills that Contain Intent for Future Appropriations

Chapter 237    Appropriations Limit Disclaimer

Chapter 238    Drafting Claims Bills

Chapter 239    Public Assistance Appropriations Bills

Chapter 240    Reversion Clauses

Specific Types of Drafting in California

Chapter 241    Bill Drafting Rules for Specific Types of Bills

Chapter 242    Drafting a Bill to Regulate a Profession

Chapter 243    Drafting Criminal or Penal Statutes

Chapter 244   Checklist for Drafting Criminal Laws

Chapter 245    Drafting Tax Statutes

Chapter 246    Additional Rules for Drafting Tax Bills

Chapter 247    Using Model or Uniform Acts for Bill Drafting

Chapter 248    Bills Affecting the University of California System

Chapter 249    Validation Bills

Chapter 250    Drafting Memorandum of Understanding Bills

Chapter 251    Joint Powers Authority Bills

Chapter 252    Williamson Act Bills

Chapter 253    Drafting Tribal Compact Legislation

Chapter 254    Drafting Local Government Finance Measures

Chapter 255    Drafting Special Statutes

Chapter 256    Drafting a Bill Calling an Election

Chapter 257    Bills Going to Voters

Chapter 258    Drafting a New Program

Chapter 259    2011 Realignment Bills

Chapter 260    Tied-house Restriction Exception Bills

Chapter 261    Drafting a State Holiday Bill

Chapter 262   Interstate Compacts

Chapter 263    Bills Apportioning Revenues among Political Entities

Chapter 264    Code Maintenance Bills

Chapter 265    Successor Entities in Legislation

Chapter 266    Legislation to Lease or Acquire State Property

Chapter 267    Governor’s Reorganization Plans        

Chapter 268   Drafting Checklist for New Commission

Bill Drafting Examples

Chapter 269    General Bill Drafting Examples

Chapter 270    Example of Bill from Introduction to Chaptering

Chapter 271    Examples of Common Provisions Found in Bills

Chapter 272    Examples of Proper Legislative Drafting Principles

Chapter 273    Interesting Provisions from AB 587

Chapter 274    AB 2406 Interesting Provisions

Chapter 275    Bill of Only Repeals

Chapter 276    Possibly the Shortest Bill

Drafting Resolutions in California

Chapter 277     Resolutions

Chapter 278    The Anatomy of a Resolution

Chapter 279    Drafting Considerations for a Resolution

Chapter 280    Does a Legislative Resolution Prevail Over a Statute?

Chapter 281    Resolutions Drafting Checklists

Drafting Constitutional Amendments in California

Chapter 282     Constitutional Amendments

Chapter 283    The Anatomy of a Constitutional Amendment

Chapter 284    Amending or Revising the California Constitution

Chapter 285    Drafting Considerations for a Constitutional Amendment

Chapter 286   Constitutional Amendments Have Resolution Chapters

Chapter 287    Constitutional Amendment Drafting Checklist

Drafting Ballot Measures in California

Chapter 288    Standard Features of Initiative Measures

Chapter 289    Single Subject Rule and the Ballot Initiative

Chapter 290    Special Rules for Bills Amending Ballot Measures

Index of Topics

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Another Reason to Limit Bill Introductions?

Frequently Asked Questions about California’s Budget Process

Can Any Bill Call an Election?