McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

Title I, Division 4, Chapter 7, Article 2 of the California Government Code provides for impeachment of officials by the California Legislature.

The process is spelled out through multiple sections of the California Government Code. The Code provides that state officers elected on a statewide basis, including members of the Board of Equalization and

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

Grassroots lobbying is an important component of any successful lobbying campaign because it’s complementary to direct lobbying of elected officials and their staff, in an effort to influence their decisions.

Grassroots lobbying involves members of the general public, as opposed to those who are directly impacted by a particular bill or issue. In essence,

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

The judiciary can be a forgotten branch of state government when it comes to the lawmaking process. The courts play a key role because judges interpret the laws and their decisions may comport with the interpretation intended by the Legislature, or their determinations may result in something quite different than intended. The courts can

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

There are a number of legislative branch support agencies that assist Congress with its different functions. I go over some of them here and more in today’s podcast. Among them is the Library of Congress, which is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It serves as the research arm of Congress. It’s also the

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

In today’s post I will go over some tips for writing effective advocacy letters for bills and resolutions weaving their way through the Legislature or Congress.

  1. If you’re a constituent, identify yourself as such. Most elected officials feel quite compelled to respond to constituent mail versus out-of-district mail.
  2. Try to be brief and keep

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

An important but often overlooked component of the lobbying profession, even involving bills, is working with relevant state agencies or departments to secure a favorable recommendation on a bill that you’re lobbying either for or against. Administrative agencies, departments, boards, and commissions of state government can often be important players in public policy development

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

One of the controversial occurrences that occurs during the legislative sessions of the California Legislature are so-called gut and amend bills. According to the Legislative Counsel, these measures are defined as “when amendments to a bill remove the current contents in their entirety and replace them with different provisions.”

These types of amendments raise

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

Most capitol observers are only aware of the majority vote and the two thirds super majority vote requirements for California legislation. However, there are actually several other categories of vote requirements on bills that come before the Legislature. The other categories are the three fourths vote, the 70% vote, and the four fifths vote.

McGeorge Adjunct Professor Chris Micheli

To those who are not operating in or around the California State Capitol, sponsored bills are relatively unknown. However the media often focus on sponsored bills in a critical manner making matters confusing. In Congress, the term sponsor means the legislator whose name is on the bill. However in the California Legislature, the legislator