CA Legislative Explainer: Key End-of-Session Process Items

CA Legislative Explainer: Key End-of-Session Process Items By Chris Micheli

            Although the following items are not an exhaustive list, they cover some of the most frequently-asked questions regarding process items at the end of the California Legislative Session:

 

72-Hour In-Print Rule

 

A bill cannot be passed or become a statute unless that bill and any amendments have been in print and published on the Internet for at least 72 hours before the vote, unless the Governor has submitted a statement that the bill is needed to address a state of emergency. No bill may be passed unless a majority of members of each house votes in favor of the bill.

 

Consent Calendars

 

There are different rules between the Senate and Assembly regarding what is a measure for the consent calendar on their floors. For example, under Senate Rule 28.3(a), if a Senate bill or Assembly bill is amended in the Senate to create a new bill or to rewrite the bill, a standing committee may not place the bill on its consent calendar. There is also a “special consent” calendar used on the Senate Floor, as well as “batching” on the Assembly Floor.

 

Inactive Files

 

Bills taken off of the Senate Inactive File are returned to the Second Reading file. In the Assembly, bills previously on Third Reading that are moved to the Inactive File are subject to a “one-calendar-day notice” when removed from the Inactive File and returned to the Third Reading file.

 

Session Past Midnight on the Final Day

 

“Stopping the clock” is the term used to describe the process of continuing legislative business after the passage of a deadline imposed by legislative rule. However, there is no provision in the law to “stop the clock” in the California Legislature. During the second year of the legislative session, the state Constitution specifies that no bill may be passed after September 1 (with 5 exceptions), which makes August 31 at midnight the de facto deadline in the even-numbered year.

Policy Committee Meetings During the Last Two Weeks of Session

With a rule waiver, committees can meet during this time period. Under Senate Rule 29.10 and Assembly Rule 77.2, dealing with bills that have been substantially amended in the other house and are referred back for a policy committee hearing, those committees are not subject to the prohibition on meeting during those two weeks.

Double Jointing and Contingent Enactment Amendments

There is a clear difference between these two types of amendments. Contingent enactment means there is a section in a bill indicating that it is to become operative only upon the enactment of another measure. Double jointing amendments are amendments to a bill providing that the amended bill does not override the provisions of another bill where both bills propose to amend the same section of law.

Bill Locations

Unfinished Business File - Both the Assembly Daily File and the Senate Daily File contain a portion titled “Unfinished Business,” which is the section that contains bills that have returned to their house of origin from the other house and await a concurrence vote due to amendments that were made to the bill by the other house. This section of the Daily File also contains bills that were vetoed by the Governor. They remain on the Daily File for a 60-day period after the gubernatorial veto. Thereafter, unless voted upon, they are removed from the Daily File and can no longer be considered.

Inactive File - The other section of the Daily File to be aware of is for bills that made it to the Floor of either the Assembly or the Senate, but for whatever reason the bill’s author does not want to proceed with the measure. Bills that have failed passage can be moved to the Inactive File upon request of the bill’s author. If an author has moved a bill to the Inactive File, he or she can remove it from the Inactive File at a later date with public notice.

            WORFs - According to the rules, bills that are not listed on the Daily File can only be taken up with either unanimous consent of the house’s members or by suspending the rules. A bill that is not listed on the Daily File, but which is taken up nonetheless, is referred to as a “WORF”. The process of taking up a WORF bill is to take the measure up “without reference to file” (WORF). In order to do so, a vote of a majority of the house’s membership (41 in the Assembly and 21 in the Senate) is required to take up a bill without reference to file.

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