https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/lobbying-bill-referrals
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
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/judging-the-qualifications-of-legislators
With Super Tuesday now behind us, and races for State Senate and State Assembly seats starting to take shape, let’s take a look at who judges the qualifications of its members, aside from voters when they exercise their right to vote Assemblymembers and State Senators in and out of office, or when they exercise
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/is-there-liability-for-enacting-unconstitutional-laws
On occasion, I’ve been asked whether there’s any recourse if the Legislature and Governor enact a law that somehow violated the state and/or federal constitutions. Obviously, the first action would be to challenge the enacted bill in either a state or federal court, depending on the basis for that constitutional challenge. Another avenue is
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/general-vs-special-statutes
Most capitol observers don’t often come across bills that delineate between general or special statutes. What’s the difference? A general statute is essentially a law that pertains uniformly to an entire community or to all persons generally. On the other hand, a special statute is essentially a law that applies to a particular person,
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/constitutional-amendments-in-california
Although California’s constitution provides for the amendment of the state constitution, it does not actually define the term. California’s Legislative Counsel defines a constitutional amendment as a resolution proposing a change to the California Constitution. It may be presented by the Legislature or by initiative, and it’s adopted upon voter approval at a state‑wide
Today we’ll take a brief look at how to have effective meetings with legislators and their staff. First, note that there are basically two types of meetings you can have with elected or appointed officials, relationship-building meetings and policy meetings.
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/effective-meetings-with-legislators-and-staff
Relationship building meetings are an important first
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/limits-on-political-activities-of-public-employees
In California’s Government Code there are a number of sections of law that prohibit specified political activities of public employees.
Government Code section 3201 specifies that the Legislature makes a finding that political activities of public employees are of significant statewide concern and that the provisions of this section of the law supersede all
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/legislative-code-of-ethics
Article IV of the California Constitution deals with the Legislature, and there are several sections that are applicable to ethical conduct by members of the Legislature. These provisions are found primarily in Sections 4 and 5 of California’s Constitution.
Article IV, Section 4 contains a prohibition on certain earned income. It essentially prohibits a
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/californias-separation-of-powers-doctrine
What does “separation of powers” mean in the state of California? Similar to the federal government, it essentially means that the powers of government are provided to separate branches of government to operate.
These powers are set forth in the California Constitution and are granted to the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and
https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/appropriations-measures
So, what essentially are appropriations measures? Unfortunately, while California law does not define the term, it is used frequently in the law. California’s Legislative Counsel defines an appropriation as an amount of money made available for expenditure by a specific entity for a specific purpose from the General Fund or some other designated state