A New Proposal on Dealing with the High Volume of Bills

A New Proposal on Dealing with the High Volume of Bills By Chris Micheli

            Since my suggestion of reducing bill limits in the California Legislature does not appear to be taking hold (😊), I have a new proposal to stimulate some discussion about this topic and would welcome feedback. Here is my proposal: How about requiring bills to be introduced at least one month earlier in the year?

            What would this proposal require? First, it would require legislators and their staff to consider and decide upon their likely legislation in November and December and then submit those proposals to the Office of Legislative Counsel a month or so earlier. While some offices do that already, many others would have to adjust.

            This proposal would also mean that trade associations, labor unions, lobbyists and their clients, and other interest groups that want to have a bill introduced will have to start their processes earlier as well. They will have to develop their bill ideas, background papers, and draft legislative language earlier in order to submit them to legislators for earlier consideration.

            It would also require the attorneys at Office of Legislative Counsel to draft bills earlier. Once introduced by the third week in January (rather than the current third week in February), then policy committees would start bill hearings a month earlier as well. By keeping the current deadlines for house of origin committees, there would be an additional month worth of hearings.

            This proposal would also require the bills to be spread out more and using that additional month so that fewer bills would be heard at each hearing. In that way, each policy committee could reduce the hearing bill load, which would allow committee consultants to have more time to analyze bills and write more detailed analyses. Consultants are forced to rush analyses because there are just so many bills and relatively few hearings.

            Also, hopefully, this proposal would allow the committees to loosen the reins on testimony and allow additional witnesses to testify, to allow more time for those witnesses to speak, and also to provide adequate time for legislators on the committees to actually discuss and debate the bills before they cast a vote on them.

            Since roughly 40% of the introduced bills today are spot or intent bills anyways, I doubt that number will go up much more under this proposal. The legislative leaders could also advance by a month the due date for amending spot or intent bills.

            Ideally, this proposal would be improved by reducing the current bill limits in the State Senate and State Assembly. Perhaps we will still such a proposal in the 2024 Session. In the meantime, I would welcome feedback and discussion on this proposal…

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