https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/officers-and-leadership-of-the-legislature/s-zNW1L

In both the California State Assembly and the California State Senate, there are designated officers and elected leaders of these two bodies. We’ll take a quick look at some of those positions in the text and cover more of the positions in today’s podcast. We’ll start with the California State Assembly.

Speaker – he or she is the highest-ranking officer of the Assembly and is elected by the members at the beginning of the two-year session. He or she presides over floor sessions and has extensive powers and duties established by the Assembly Rules.

Majority and Minority Floor Leaders – The Majority Floor Leader is elected by the members of the majority party caucus, who represents the Speaker on the floor and oversees the floor proceedings through parliamentary procedures such as motions and points of order. The Minority Floor Leader is elected by the caucus having the second largest membership in the Assembly and is generally responsible for making motions and points of orders and representing the minority caucus on the Assembly Floor.

Majority and Minority Whips – The Whip is essentially the political leadership of each party in the Assembly. They are elected by their caucuses or appointed by the Speaker and there are usually Assistant Majority Whips and of course, on the other side of the aisle, there is the Minority Whip who is selected by the Republican leader and there are often multiple Assistant Minority Whips.

There are many positions in the California State Senate that are very similar to their counterparts in the Assembly so I’ll focus instead on President of the Senate and the President Pro Tem of the Senate.

President of the Senate – By law, this is the Lieutenant Governor. However, by custom the role is extremely limited. He or she may be invited periodically to preside over ceremonial occasions, such as the opening of the two-year legislative session. The only time the Lt. Governor is entitled to participate in the business of the Senate is in the case of a tie vote when he or she would cast the tie breaking vote.

Senate President Pro Tem – He or she is the leader of the Senate and serves as the chair of the Rules Committee. This individual is elected by the members, generally, at the start of the two-year session. The Pro Tem is the presiding officer who oversees the appointment of committee members, the assignment of bills, and the confirmation of Gubernatorial appointees, and of course, he or she is also the political leader of the majority party.

You can find a transcript of today’s podcast here.