https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/the-connection-between-judges-and-bill-drafters

There are two types of approaches to interpreting statutes; literalism and purposive. Literalism is generally defined as the interpretation of words in their usual or most basic sense, while purposive is generally defined as the interpretation of words based upon having or being done with a purpose. If you look at a historical context

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/go-biz

GO-Biz serves as the State of California’s leader in job growth, economic development, and business assistance efforts. GO-Biz prides itself on offering free consultations for incentive identification, site selection, regulatory or permitting compliance assistance, foreign direct investment, and even export assistance. Every two years, GO-Biz submits an approved State Leadership Accountability Report to the

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/governors-office-of-emergency-services

Today we’ll take a look at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, also known as OES. OES is established in the California Government Code, Title II Division 1 Chapter 7, Article 5 – way down there. It covers sections 8585 to 8589.7 and pursuant to section 8585, OES is established in state government within

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/prop-54s-impact-on-california-government

Prop 54 was enacted by the voters in the November 2016 general election. It adopted two constitutional amendments and two statutory changes dealing with public access to legislative proceedings, recordings of legislative proceedings, bill amendments, and voting on those bill amendments.

The first constitutional amendment enacted by Prop 54 added two, extensive, new provisions

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/using-transitional-and-savings-clauses

One area of bill drafting worth studying is the use of transitional or savings provisions. What are the differences between the two and how are they used?

All transitional provisions come into play when new legislation amends or repeals existing law. For example, they address the issue of how activities or rights begun under

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/preparing-to-amend-or-repeal-statutes

Like other forms of drafting legislation, when you prepare to amend or repeal existing statutes, there are several steps for the bill drafter to take. According to the Graduate Degree in Legislative Drafting program from Athabasca University, there are three steps – research, plan, and draft.

Research begins with researching the topic and existing

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/the-role-of-legislative-counsel-in-initiative-drafting

There are many who don’t realize that the highly trained attorneys in the California Office of Legislative Counsel will actually draft an initiative for the statewide ballot for members of the public. Basically, under existing state law, attorneys in the Legislative Counsel Bureau will assist in the preparation of drafting an initiative measure when

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/state-mandated-local-programs

Both the California Constitution and the California Government Code describe in detail state mandated local programs. As a result of the constitution and the statutes in the Government Code, a California bill is identified as mandating or not mandating a local program.

If a mandated local program is going to be required, then the

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli outside the California State Capitol

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/retroactivity-in-california-statutes

In California, as in most states, a statute is presumed to operate prospectively. When construing statutes, there’s a general presumption against retroactive cases unless the Legislature plainly has directed otherwise. So how might the Legislature plainly direct otherwise? Generally it’s by means of express language of retroactivity or some sort of information that provides

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli outside the California State Capitol

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/drafting-penal-code-statutes

Drafting penal code statutes is an important undertaking for any bill drafter because of the consequences for those who violate such statutes, which can include imprisonment as well as financial penalties, and because the courts at both the state and federal levels generally strictly construe these types of statutes. As a result, those who