California’s Constitution in Article IV, Section 7, deals primarily with the proceedings of the houses and committees of the California Legislature. For example, in Section 7c, “The proceedings of each house and the committees thereof shall be open and public.” Moreover, in that section, “The right to attend open and public proceedings includes the
While most of the public is trying to comply with the shelter in place orders that’ve now been instituted statewide, of course, with very stern warnings to comply to help curb the spread of this new coronavirus, there have been a number of people who have jobs that are deemed so critical that they
As a result of the COVID‑19 outbreak, numerous state legislatures around the country have been acting upon, or considering, measures to deal with their legislative operations, including issues like recesses, bill deadlines, and remote voting.
About half of the states so far have either temporarily adjourned, or recessed, their legislative sessions. There are some
As we near the end of the week of California’s shelter-in-place order, and with both Governor Newsom and President Trump putting the National Guard to use here in California to slow the spread of COVID-19, there is concern about whether the pandemic will somehow result in the imposition of martial law.
Neither the United
Per Article II, Section 8(d) of the California Constitution, “An initiative measure embracing more than one subject may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.” Essentially, if an initiative embraces more than one subject, it can neither be submitted to, nor enacted by, the voters.
You may recall that a similar
In light of the current state of emergency in California that Governor Newsom declared to respond to the novel coronavirus, and the series of orders that he has issued since, I think it’s valuable to explore where the Governor’s emergency powers come from and what the limitations on those powers are.
While the Governor’s
There are a number of instances where standardized language is contained in proposed ballot measures in California. While initiatives do not need to contain all of these provisions, proponents should study relevant laws and determine if they need to include one or more of these provisions in their initiatives. Those instances are amendments, severability,
There are several code sections that set forth legislative powers and duties. These statutes were added by Prop 24 in 1984 and are found in Title 2, Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 8, Article II of California’s Government Code.
Government Code section 9910 states that the Speaker is responsible for the efficient conduct of
In California’s Government Code, there are several code sections that set forth legislative rules and procedures. These particular statutes were added by Proposition 24 in 1984. These sections of law are found in Title 2, Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 8 of Article III in California’s Government Code.
Government Code Section 9920 essentially provides
An area that is rarely talked about in California’s capitol community concerns the infrequent lobbying of bill referrals. In other words, how does someone get a bill referred to a favorable committee, or perhaps an unfavorable committee, or even to multiple committees?
In most instances, the policy committee to which a bill will be