The Legislature’s First Day of Session

The Legislature’s First Day of Session By Chris Micheli

The Senate and Assembly met this afternoon to convene the 2025-25 California Legislative Session. I tried to catch the formal actions…

ASSEMBLY
All 80 Assembly Members were sworn-in today, including 23 new Members, 12 of whom are female.

There is one vacancy as Vince Fong was elected, but he chose to keep his Congressional seat – a special election will be called by Gov Newsom

As such, the Assembly is operating with 79 Members

The Assembly elected Robert Rivas as Speaker.

For the first time in many years, Republican Leader Gallagher was nominated and voted for by 19 Republicans.

The Assembly adopted:

HR 1 – Standing Rules, including reducing the bill introduction limit from 50 to 35 bills for the 2-year Session.

HR 2 – Chief Clerk and Chief Sgt. at Arms were elected

HR 3 – Assembly organized and notified the Senate

They also adopted SCR 2 – Legislative Counsel Jenkins was elected; SCR 1 – adoption of Joint Rules

At 2pm, the Assembly convened the First Extraordinary Session.

The Assembly adjourned at 2:15pm until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 1pm

SENATE

20 Senators were sworn-in, including 12 new Members, 7 of whom are female, and 8 of whom are former Assembly Members.

Senator Janet Nguyen has resigned as she was elected to the OC Board of Supervisors – a special election will be called by Gov Newsom

As such, the Senate is operating with 39 Members

The Senate adopted:

SR 1 – concerning holdover Senators

SR 2 – Senator McGuire elected PT, and Senate Secretary and Chief Sgt at Arms were elected

SR 3 – 5 members of Rules Committee were elected, but PT said their members are likely to change when he announced committee assignments in January

SR 4 – Standing Rules, including reducing the bill introduction limit from 40 to 35 bills for the 2-year Session. And budget trailer bills are not subject to SR 29.10.

SCR 1 – Joint Rules

SCR 2 – Election of Legislative Counsel

SR 5 – Senate organized and notified GGN

SR 6 – Senate organized and notified the Assembly

At 1:15pm, the Senate convened the First Extraordinary Session.

The Senate adjourned at 140pm until Monday, January 6, 2025 at 2pm

On the first day of Session, there were a total of 97 regular session bills introduced – 63 ABs and 34 SBs.

Of those, 24 were intent bills and 6 were spot bills.

In addition, there were 3 special session bills and 1 special session constitutional amendment introduced today.

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