McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

While the legislative publications of the California State Assembly and California State Senate have the same names and are intended to serve the same purposes, when we look a little bit more closely, there are several keen differences between the Senate’s and the Assembly’s legislative publications.

The Assembly Daily Journal and the Senate Daily Journal are essentially the same because they simply document the major actions of the committees and the floors of each house of the Legislature. However, the Senate Daily File and the Assembly Daily File, as well as the Senate Weekly History and the Assembly Weekly History, do have differences. Let’s first take a look at the Daily Files.

The Daily Files set forth the agendas of the Senate and the Assembly, and they contain information such as committee hearing notices and measures that are eligible for floor action. When an individual picks up a hard copy at the bill room or looks at the Senate or Assembly Daily File online, they’ll notice that they are substantially similar. Nonetheless, to the discerning eye, while some items may be the same, other aspects are in fact different, and certainly the order that the information is presented is slightly different.

The Weekly History is a publication of both the Senate and the Assembly that provide a comprehensive list of all the actions taken on every single bill and is published weekly by each house. And like the Daily Files, when you pick up a hard copy or you review them on the internet, you’ll notice again that the Assembly Weekly History and the Senate Weekly History are substantially similar. Also like the Daily Files of the State Senate and Assembly, there are other aspects that are different, and the order that the information is presented is slightly different.

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