Chris Micheli

Frequently Asked Questions about Legislative Branch Support Agencies  By Chris Micheli What is the Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC)? Founded in 1913, the Office of Legislative Counsel is a nonpartisan public agency that drafts legislative proposals, prepares legal opinions, and provides other confidential legal services to the Legislature and Governor. What other services does OLC provide? The OLC also provides computer services, data networking, and related customer services to the Legislature. Who is in charge of the OLC? The Legislative Counsel of California is Cara Jenkins, who was appointed by the members of the Assembly and Senate. Does the OLC advise all branches of government? No, the OLC only serves as legal counsel to the Legislature and its members, as well as the Governor and his or her staff (but not the other constitutional officers or the judicial branch). What role does OLC play in legislation? Legislation cannot be introduced unless it has been app...

Frequently Asked Questions about Informational and Oversight Hearings in the California Legislature  By Chris Micheli Committees of the California Legislature can conduct several types of hearings, including bill hearings, investigative or oversight hearings, and informational hearings. What are bill hearings? They are those that are conducted to hear specific pieces of legislation, including bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments. What are informational hearings? They are used to gather information about the subject matter of the hearing, usually in preparation for consideration of legislation in the future. What are oversight or investigatory hearings? They are used by legislators to look at issues such as: Is there concern about how a program is being administered? Or concern about how a law is being enforced? Is there a distinction between oversight and investigative hearings? Some view one where there may be an allegation of wrongdoing by a public offic...

Frequently Asked Questions About California Governor’s Legislative Role  By Chris Micheli Does the Governor’s line-item veto authority apply only to budget bills? Under Article IV, Section 10(e) of the state constitution, “The Governor may reduce or eliminate one or more items of appropriation while approving other portions of a bill. The Governor shall append to the bill a statement of the items reduced or eliminated with the reasons for the action. The Governor shall transmit to the house originating the bill a copy of the statement and reasons. Items reduced or eliminated shall be separately reconsidered and may be passed over the Governor’s veto in the same manner as bills.” Why is the line-item veto authority also called the “blue pencil” authority? This authority is sometimes referred to as “blue pencil” authority because y ears ago the Governor used an editor's blue pencil for the task.      Can the Governor “pocket veto” a bill like the President can? ...

How to Read a California Bill Analysis  By Chris Micheli As you might think, there are several different types of bill analyses used in the California Legislature. First, there are committee and floor analyses of bills. Second, at the committee level, there are analyses prepared by the policy and fiscal committees. These different types of analyses serve different purposes for different audiences.   In most instances, the most substantive analyses are prepared by the policy committees in the Assembly and Senate. Nonetheless, even these can differ significantly between short versions (typically 3-4 pages in length) and long versions (sometimes reaching 20-25 pages or more). The fiscal committee analyses, focused obviously on the fiscal impacts of bills, are typically 1-3 pages in length. Floor analyses can be a few pages to many pages in length.   Each of these analyses are necessary to address critical aspects of the bills that are being analyzed by the policy a...

Frequently Asked Questions about California Legislative Committee Rules  By Chris Micheli   How many standing committees are there in the State Senate? 22   How many standing committees are there in the State Assembly? 33   Which rules govern the California Legislature’s committee rules? The committees operate under the Joint Rules of the Legislature, as well as the Standing Rules of the Senate and Assembly, respectively.   May standing committees adopt rules governing the operation of their committees? Yes, these committee rules set forth the procedures and guidelines that are used to conduct the business of the particular legislative committee.   What are examples of common items found in committee rules? For example, they set forth the date, time, and location of the committee hearings; and, a majority of the committee’s members constitute a quorum.   What are committee worksheets? When a legislative measure is referred t...