Handbook on the Legislative Process in California

My new “Handbook on the Legislative Process in California” has been published by Kendall Hunt. This handbook contains over 220 chapters.

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

https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/handbook-californias-legislative-process

The following are the handbook’s Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part One – The Legislature’s Powers and Its Role as an Institution
Chapter 1:       Overview of California’s Legislature

Chapter 2:       Legislature’s Constitutional Provisions
Chapter 3:       Other Constitutional Powers of the Legislature
Chapter 4:       Legislative Oversight
Chapter 5:       Delegation of Legislative Power
Chapter 6:       Impeachment by the Legislature

Chapter 7:        Who Holds Greater Lawmaking Power: The Legislature or the People?

Chapter 8:       Impeachment of State Officers

Chapter 9:       Filling a Vacancy

Chapter 10:     Resignations in the Legislature

Chapter 11:      Per Diem and Legislator Expenses

Chapter 12:     The Legislative Privilege

Chapter 13:     Legislative Oversight of Rulemaking

Chapter 14:     When Elected Officials Take Office

Chapter 15:     Formal Roles of Governor and Lt. Governor in Lawmaking Activities

Chapter 16:     Between Election Day and Convening New Session

Chapter 17:     Legislative Records Program at Secretary of State

Chapter 18:     A Primer on Special Sessions

Chapter 19:     Recalling the Legislature from Recess

Chapter 20:     Practical Items for Special Sessions

Chapter 21:     Fiscal Emergency Special Sessions

Chapter 22:     Joint Recesses in the First Year of Session

Chapter 23:     Joint Recesses in the Second Year of Session

Chapter 24:     Electing the Assembly Speaker

Chapter 25:     Special or Extraordinary Session?

Part Two – The Legislative Process
Chapter 26:     Basics of California’s Legislative Process
Chapter 27:     Following the Legislative Process
Chapter 28:     Officers and Leadership of the Legislature
Chapter 29:     Legislative Branch Support Agencies
Chapter 30:     Role of the Legislative Counsel
Chapter 31:     Legislative Lingo
Chapter 32:     Legislative Calendar
Chapter 33:     Legislative Deadlines
Chapter 34:     Regular v. Special Sessions   
Chapter 35:     California Legislature’s Organizing Session
Chapter 36:     Differences between the Assembly and Senate Processes
Chapter 37:     Challenges in the Lawmaking Process          
Chapter 38:     Legislative Process Obstacles

Chapter 39:     When Closed Sessions of the Legislature Are Permitted

Chapter 40:     Session Reports by Leaders

Chapter 41:     Overview of Assembly Rules

Chapter 42:     Overview of Senate Rules

Chapter 43:     Overview of Joint Rules

Chapter 44:     Role of Mason’s Manual

Chapter 45:     Can All Legislative Rules Be Waived?

Chapter 46:     Electing Officers of the Legislature   

Chapter 47:      Do California’s Legislative Rules Have Constitutional Protection?

Chapter 48:      Can the Public Be Excluded from Legislative Committee Hearings or Floor Sessions?

Chapter 49:      Why Legislature Does Certain Activities

Chapter 50:      Establishing a Quorum

Chapter 51:      The Sunrise Process

Chapter 52:      The Sunset Process

Chapter 53:      Which Rules Apply to Special Session Bills


Part Three – Committee Procedures, Including Bill Referrals
Chapter 54:     California’s Legislative Committee System
Chapter 55:     Types of Legislative Committees
Chapter 56:     Joint Committees of the Legislature
Chapter 57:     Rules Committees
Chapter 58:     Legislative Committee Rules
Chapter 59:     Legislative Committee Staff  
Chapter 60:     Legislative Committee Hearings
Chapter 61:     Referral of Bills
Chapter 62:     Suspense File Process for Fiscal Bills
Chapter 63:     Other Ways of Defeating Bills          

Chapter 64:     What Happens to Bills Authored by a Former Member?

Chapter 65:     Limits on Bill Introductions

Chapter 66:     The Second Bill Introduction Deadline

Chapter 67:     Committees Meeting Jointly

Chapter 68:     Properly Addressing Presiding Officers

Chapter 69:     Legislative Rules Known by Their Numbers

Chapter 70:     What are Committee Bills?

Chapter 71:     The Astounding Workloads of California’s Legislative Committees

Chapter 72:     Moving a Call

Chapter 73:     Special Orders of Business

Chapter 74:     Historical Look at Bill Introductions

Chapter 75:     Exceptions to Legislative Committee Deadlines

Chapter 76:     Review of Joint Committees

Chapter 77:     Conference Committees Not Generally Used

Chapter 78:     Bills Held in Committee Several Ways

Chapter 79:     Return of Carryover Bills

Chapter 80:     Committee Actions without a Quorum

Chapter 81:     Differences between Senate Rules 28.8 and 28.9

Chapter 82:     Are Bills with Only Findings and Declarations Substantive?

Part Four – Floor Procedures
Chapter 83:     Conducting Business on the Floors
Chapter 84:     Making the Houses Run Smoothly
Chapter 85:     Legislative Floor Procedures
Chapter 86:     Three Readings of a Bill
Chapter 87:     Final Form of Bills and the 72-Hour Rule
Chapter 88:     Methods of Floor Voting
Chapter 89:     Vote Requirements for Bills  
Chapter 90:     Reconsideration of Bills
Chapter 91:     Bills on Consent
Chapter 92:     Concurrence in Amendments
Chapter 93:     Sending and Withdrawing Bills from the Floor
Chapter 94:     Role of Leadership Staff
Chapter 95:     Letters to the Journal Process

Chapter 96:     Adjournment Versus Adjournment Sine Die

Chapter 97:     Phrases You May Hear on the Floors

Chapter 98:     Differences in Legislative Floor Operations

Chapter 99:     Frequent End-of-session Legislative Process Items

Chapter 100:   Constitutional Voting Requirements for the Legislature

Chapter 101:   Rule Waivers on the Assembly Floor

Chapter 102:   Rules of Decorum in the Legislature

Chapter 103:   “Batching” of Bills

Chapter 104:   Motions in the Legislature

Chapter 105:   Items on Concurrence in the California Legislature

Chapter 106:   Addressing Some Other End-of-Session Queries

Chapter 107:   Possible Locations of Measures on the Floors

Chapter 108:   Speaking on Condition of the File

Chapter 109:   Desk is Clear Statement

Chapter 110:   Supplemental Files

Chapter 111:   When Resolutions Are Not Adopted

Chapter 112:   Vote Changes

Chapter 113:   Presiding Over the State Senate

Chapter 114:   Look at Historical Bill Actions

Chapter 115:   Are Rules Waived or Suspended?

Chapter 116:   Consideration of Governor’s Vetoes

Chapter 117:    Why Is a Constitutional Amendment Given a Resolution Chapter

Part Five – Legislative Publications and Resources
Chapter 118:   Legislative Publications
Chapter 119:   Where to Find California Laws
Chapter 120:   Examining Legislative Records         
Chapter 121:   Daily Journals in Detail
Chapter 122:   Daily Files in Detail
Chapter 123:   Histories in Details

Chapter 124:   Look in Detail at Legislative Publications

Chapter 125:   Required Reports

Chapter 126:   What is the Legislative Index?

Chapter 127:   What is the Table of Sections Affected?
Chapter 128:   What is the Statutory Record?
Chapter 129:   What is the New Laws Report?

Chapter 130:   Flagging Certain Items When Searching Bills

Part Six – Ethics in the Legislative Process
Chapter 131:   Laws Governing the Ethics of the Lobbying Profession

Chapter 132:   Legislative Code of Ethics
Chapter 133:   Open Meetings Laws 
Chapter 134:    Role of Legislative Ethics Committees         
Chapter 135:    Crimes Against the Legislative Power

Chapter 136:   Deal-Making in California’s Capitol – Is It Lawful?

Chapter 137:    Ethics for Legislative Staff

Chapter 138:   Expulsion or Suspension of Legislators

Chapter 139:   Gifts and Honoraria and State Legislators

Chapter 140:   When Does the 1-year Revolving Ban Take Effect?

Part Seven – Influences on the Legislative Process
Chapter 141:    Influences on Shaping Legislation

Chapter 142:   State Agencies and Their Role in Policy Development
Chapter 143:    Media's Role in the Lawmaking Process

Chapter 144:   Role of the Judiciary in the Lawmaking Process

 

Part Eight – Legislative Advocacy
Chapter 145:   Insights into the Lobbying Profession

Chapter 146:   Types of Lobbying Clients

Chapter 147:   Other Types of Lobbying

Chapter 148:   Lobbying Support Services
Chapter 149:   Budget Advocacy

Chapter 150:   Writing Effective Advocacy Letters

Chapter 151:   Providing Effective Committee Testimony

Chapter 152:   Lobbying Bill Referrals

Chapter 153:   Lobbying Governor’s Appointments

Chapter 154:   Successful Lobbying Coalitions

Chapter 155:    Negotiating Bills and Amendments

Chapter 156:    Sponsored Bills

Chapter 157:   Picking the Right Author
Chapter 158:    Tracking and Analyzing Legislation and Regulations

Chapter 159:   Grassroots Lobbying

Chapter 160:   Effective Meetings with Legislators and Staff

 

Part Nine – Drafting and Analyzing Bills
Chapter 161:   Bills, Resolutions and Constitutional Amendments
Chapter 162:   Drafting Bills and Amendments
Chapter 163:   Types of Bill Amendments
Chapter 164:   Dissecting Bills in the Legislature
Chapter 165:   California Legislation and the Single Subject Rule
Chapter 166:   Germane Amendments          
Chapter 167:   Making Sense of Technical Amendments
Chapter 168:   The Unseen Part of Passing New Laws
Chapter 169:   Spot Bills
Chapter 170:   Gut-and-Amend Bills
Chapter 171:   General Versus Special Statutes
Chapter 172:   Effective Versus Operative Dates
Chapter 173:   Urgency Clause Statutes

Chapter 174:   Policy Analysis in the Legislative Process
Chapter 175:   A Bill’s Keys
Chapter 176:   Drafting Bill Analyses

Chapter 177:   Bill Drafting Guidelines and Examples

Chapter 178:   Special Statute Statements in Bills

Chapter 179:   What Are 2-year Bills?

Chapter 180:   Spot bills Versus Intent Bills

Chapter 181:   How Is a Bill ‘In Print’ When It Will Be Amended Days Later?

Chapter 182:   Companion Bills

Chapter 183:   Use of Display Bills

Chapter 184:   What Are All the Legislative Measures?

Chapter 185:   Flagging Items for Bill Searches

Chapter 186:   Two Types of Author’s Amendments


Part Ten – Statutory Interpretation and Legislative Intent
Chapter 187:   Researching California Legislative History and Intent

Chapter 188:    Rules on Statutory Construction for Non-Lawyers
Chapter 189:    Legislative Intent and California Courts
Chapter 190:    Court Cases Affecting California’s Legislative Process

Chapter 191:   Limits on Certain Types of Legislative Measures

Chapter 192:   Distinction among Legislative History Items

Chapter 193:   Legislative History Versus Intent

Chapter 194:   Using Letters to the Daily Journals for Determining Legislative Intent

Chapter 195:   Volume of Daily Journal Letters Submitted by Bill Authors

Part Eleven – The Executive Branch Role in the Legislative Process
Chapter 196:    Governor’s Role in the Lawmaking Process
Chapter 197:    Executive Branch’s Constitutional Provisions
Chapter 198:    Enrolled Bill Reports and the Governor

Chapter 199:   Governor’s Reorganization Plans

Chapter 200:   Why Is the Governor in Article IV?

Chapter 201:   Governor Has 12 or 30 Days to Act on Bills

Chapter 202:   When Does the 12-day Period Begin?

Chapter 203:   Bills Chaptered without Governor’s Signature

Chapter 204:   Historical Look at Gubernatorial Actions

Chapter 205:   Bills Signed by Lt. Governors

Chapter 206:   Gubernatorial Records Program at Secretary of State

Chapter 207:   Signing Messages by the Governor

Chapter 208:   Governor and the Public Records Act

Part Twelve – Direct Democracy and Its Role in the Legislative Process

Chapter 209:   Initiative and Referendum Processes

Chapter 210:   Revising or Amending the Constitution

Part Thirteen – The Budget Process
Chapter 211:     Overview of the Budget Process   

Chapter 212:   Changing Joint Rule 10.5    
Chapter 213:     The Impact of the State Budget on California Public Policy
Chapter 214:     Appropriations Measures
Chapter 215:     Governor’s Line-Item Veto Authority

Chapter 216:     Constitutional Rules for the State Budget

Chapter 217:     Timing of Appropriations Bills

Chapter 218:     Budget Lingo

Chapter 219:     About the May Revision

Chapter 220:     Bills with Intent for Future Appropriations

Part Fourteen – Legislative Process Misconceptions and Reforms
Chapter 221:     Common Misconceptions about California’s Legislative Process           
Chapter 222:     Possible Legislative Process Reforms

Index of Topics

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Reason to Limit Bill Introductions?

Another Reason to Limit Bill Introductions?  By Chris Micheli             As I did my final review of Governor Newsom’s actions on the 1,046 bills sent to him after the 2023 Legislative Session, I noticed that some of the Governor’s veto messages provide additional rationales for limiting bill introductions.             Out of 156 vetoes from the 2023 Session, the number one reason for the Governor’s veto was budget concerns or cost pressures. In fact, 41% of the vetoes used that basis. That by itself is not a reason to limit bill introductions, but another statistic may provide such a reason…             By my count, just over 1/3 of the bills vetoed by Governor Newsom likely should not have been sent to his Desk and, arguably, should not have made it through the process at all. In fact, perhaps they should not h...
Read more

Frequently Asked Questions about California’s Budget Process

Frequently Asked Questions about California’s Budget Process  By Chris Micheli             What are the main parts of the California state budget? They are the Budget Bill, Budget Bill Junior, Trailer Bills, and Supplemental Reports.             What is the Budget Bill? This bill contains the appropriations and “Budget Bill Language”. Note that only a Budget Bill (or BBJ) can contain multiple appropriations. It requires a majority vote for passage and the bill takes effect immediately. There is just one Budget Bill. What is the “Budget Bill Jr.”? This is the bill that amends the main Budget Bill by making changes to multiple appropriations. There are often multiple BBJs. What is a Trailer Bill? This bill makes the statutory changes needed to implement the budget. It is the same as any other bill, but it takes effect immediately with a majority vote if it contain...
Read more

Can Any Bill Call an Election?

Can Any Bill Call an Election?  By Chris Micheli             In June 2024, we saw two bills that contain a provision to call an election.             Both bills contain a “plus” section at the end of the bill, which is an uncodified statute, stating the following: “this act calls an election within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.” Such a measure only requires a majority vote, unless some other constitutional provision requires a higher vote threshold (e.g., a tax increase). What is the basis for this statement? Section 8(c)(3) of Article IV of the state Constitution provides: “ Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and urgency statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their enactment.” However, there is no further gui...
Read more