Chris Micheli

2024 Departing Members – STATE ASSEMBLY By Chris Micheli             On November 5, voters will cast their ballots for, among others, half the California State Senate seats and all of the Assembly seats. On December 2, the Legislature will convene their 2025-26 Legislative Session. So, how many new legislators will be seated at that time? For the State Assembly, assuming the status quo regarding those state assembly members running for re-election (i.e., that they will win their seats again next month), there will be at least 24 new state assembly members. The following are the 24 departing Assembly Members, in alphabetical order (along with their party affiliation and district number), and whether their departure is due to term limits or whether they have additional years to serve: Wendy Carrillo (D) – AD 52 – has 4 years remaining Sabrina Cervantes (D) – AD 58 – running for Senate – has 4 years remaining Megan Dahle (R...

2024 Departing Members – STATE SENATE By Chris Micheli             On November 5, voters will cast their ballots for, among others, half the California State Senate seats and all of the Assembly seats. On December 2, the Legislature will convene their 2025-26 Legislative Session. So, how many new legislators will be seated at that time? For the State Senate, assuming the status quo regarding those state Senators running for re-election (i.e., that they will win their seats again next month), there will be 12 new state Senators (note, however, that 4 sitting Assembly Members are likely to win senate seats, so those could be excluded from the count of 12 “new” senators). The following are the 12 departing Senators, in alphabetical order (along with their party affiliation and district number), and whether their departure is due to term limits or whether they have additional years to serve: Toni Atkins (D) – SD 39 – due to term...

Total Measures Considered in Prior Sessions  By Chris Micheli             What are the total number of legislative measures introduced in prior session? In the California Legislature, there are three types of legislative measures: bills, constitutional amendments, and resolutions. There are three types of resolutions: house, concurrent, and joint. And, there are two types of sessions: regular and special. I reviewed the past dozen 2-year legislative sessions and the total number of legislative measures considered in the regular and special sessions. Here are the total number of measures in the regular and special sessions considered during each 2-year sessions over the past quarter century: 2023-24 Session: 5,564           Assembly: 3,704          Senate: 1,860 2021-22 Session: 5,129         ...

How Often Does the Legislature Express Its Opinion?  By Chris Micheli             There are three types of measures used in the California Legislature: bills, constitutional amendments, and resolutions. There are also three types of resolutions: house, concurrent, and joint. While some resolutions are used to elect officers and adopt rules, the vast majority of resolutions are simply expressions of opinion by the Legislature (e.g., joint resolutions express legislative opinion on federal matters), or designating something (e.g., a house or concurrent resolution could designate women’s health month).             Resolutions only require adoption by one house (in the case of a house – HR or SR – resolution) or both houses (in the cases of joint – SJR or AJR – and concurrent – SCR or ACR – resolutions), but no action by the Governor. While bills create statutes and constit...

Bills in California Special Sessions  By Chris Micheli             I reviewed the special sessions over the past quarter century held by the California Legislature to examine how many measures are considered during those special sessions. The following are the results of my research: 2023-24 Session (2) 1 st Extraordinary Session – 9 measures, 5 of them bills (2 ABs, 3 SBs) 2 nd Extraordinary Session – 11 measures, 9 of them bills (9 ABs) 2021-22 Session (0) None 2019-20 Session (0) None 2017-18 Session (0) None 2015-16 Session (2) 1 st Extraordinary Session – 43 measures, 40 of them bills (26 ABs, 14 SBs, 1 SCA) 2 nd Extraordinary Session – 39 measures, 35 of them bills (20 ABs, 15 SBs) 2013-14 Session (2) 1 st Extraordinary Session – 10 measures, 8 of them bills (4 ABs, 4 SBs) 2 nd Extraordinary Session – 4 measures, 0 bills, 1 ACA 2011-12 Session (1) 1 st Extraordinary Session – 82 ...

California Bills That Take Immediate Effect  By Chris Micheli             In California, statutes generally take effect on January 1 following the year in which they were signed into law (e.g., a bill signed by Governor Newsom in September 2024 usually takes effect on January 1, 2025). However, there are statutes that take effect immediately. Those statutes are set forth in the California Constitution and they are noted in the Title of the bill. Article IV, Section 8(c)(3) provides the four types of measures that take effect immediately. It states: “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.” The following lists the total number of bills introduced during the 2-year sessions over the past quarter century that would take effect immediately (which is about 10% of ...

Gubernatorial Appointments Considered by the State Senate  By Chris Micheli             Have you ever wondered how many gubernatorial appointments are considered each session by the California State Senate? While the Governor annually appoints hundreds of individuals to serve in appointed offices, from cabinet secretaries to members of boards and commissions, not all of them are required to receive the “advice and consent” of the State Senate.             The following lists the number of gubernatorial appointees that have been submitted to the California State Senate during the 2-year legislative sessions over the past sixteen years (8 sessions): 2023-24 Session 414 2021-23 Session 130 2019-20 Session 414 2017-18 Session 373 2015-16 Session 409 2013-14 Session 477 2011-12 Session 523 2009-10 Session 433