2023-24 State Senate: Did You Know?

2023-24 State Senate: Did You Know? By Chris Micheli

In reviewing the recently-concluded 2023-24 California Legislative Session, the following are three areas of interest for the State Senate.

Bills
The first topic is bills. The total number of bill introductions over the 2-year Session was 1,530 Senate Bills. Of those, 1,199 SBs were passed by the Senate, and 796 SBs were enrolled and sent to the Governor.

Senators and Standing Committee Assignments
The second topic is Senators’ committee assignments. These are only for standing committees, and do not include select or joint committees.  The average number of standing committee assignments per Senator was 3, but the highest number was 10 and the lowest number was zero. Three Senators served on 8 committees, while 7 Senators served on 7 committees.

Senators and Bill Introductions
The third topic is Senators’ bill introductions. Senate Rule 22.5 caps the number of bills that can be introduced during a 2-year session to 40 per Senator, but that cap can be exceeded due to a Rules Committee waiver, amending the lead author, etc.

The average number of bills introduced per Senator was 35. The highest number of bill introductions was 47, while the lowest was 9. Twelve Senators hit the maximum cap of 40 bills, while four Senators exceeded the 40-bill cap. So, 16 Senators were at or above the cap, which represents 40% of the body’s members.

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 have been introduced at all? The bases for just over 1/3 of the vetoes by the Governor included these categories: ·          18% were deemed unnecessary ·         
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 contains an appropriation related to the budget bill and is listed as a “trailer bill” in the Budget Bill. What is a Su
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 guidance in the Constitution, nor in any California Code, regarding what a “statute calling an election” looks like o
Read more