The Clinic – Episode 2: How an idea becomes a bill

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When we last left off with our two Clinic students, Keri and Michelle, we had just learned about the Legislative and Public Policy Clinic at McGeorge. We had also just gotten to know our two students and the bill that they are working on.

In the second episode of The Clinic we will be diving a little deeper into the details of their bill, but primarily, we focus on the process before the process. In other words, if you think of the overarching idea of this series as exploring through first-hand experience how a bill becomes a law then you can think of today’s episode as how an idea becomes a bill. Our two students talk at length about the research that they conducted to continually refine their idea as it moved from idea to policy proposal.

Once we get to the policy proposal we get to the more interesting part of the conversation where we pull back the curtain and go into the process of how someone who is not a legislator can have legislation introduced. It is a process that citizens and special interests alike can utilize to get their policy ideas turned into bills.

We hope you enjoy our second conversation with Keri and Michelle as we continue to explore the legislative process in California with them. We will return next week to discuss the steps that come between having a bill introduced and preparing for the committee process in the California Legislature.

 

 

 

Advocacy In Practice with Chris Micheli

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Today’s podcast should feel a little familiar and a little different at the same time. On CAP·impact we explore two types of advocacy – advocacy in the courts and advocacy in the legislative/regulatory arena. McGeorge’s Associate Dean for Experiential Learning, Mary-Beth Moylan, has an excellent series of interviews with judges and justices on advocacy in the courts.

Today’s podcast is a spin on those interviews, but talking with legislative and regulatory advocates instead of judges, about their advice to new lobbyists and provide their insights into the lobbying profession. I think back to Ray LeBov’s first rule for effective lobbying and see these interviews that I’ll be doing with lobbyists as an extension of that. If Rule #1 is to be a sponge, these interviews are intended to be a good starting point for soaking up some do’s and don’ts of the lobbying profession.

We are starting out by talking to McGeorge Capital Center adjunct professor, McGeorge School of Law alum, and respected lobbyist, Chris Micheli. Our conversation explores what he thinks makes him as effective as he is at his job. We also go into some general discussion about the lobbying profession a little more broadly, and briefly discuss one of my favorite movies – Thank You For Smoking.

It’s a fun and interesting conversation about the lobbying profession. Enjoy!

By: John Sims

Previous posts have described the decades-long efforts by California to deal with the challenge of air pollution.  Automobile-generated air pollution in the Los Angeles area forced California to start developing responses before Congress was ready to take action, and therefore when the Clean Air Act was passed by Congress in 1970 the legislation contemplated that California would continue to set a higher standard for itself than that mandated for the rest of the country.

Although the more demanding standards adopted for vehicles sold in California require sign-off by the Environmental Protection Agency, that has generally not prevented California from taking the lead in fighting air pollution.  Even when a given administration was not willing to take aggressive action itself to protect the air, it did not stop California from doing so.  A California vs. US dispute did arise over greenhouse gases during the administration of George W. Bush, but was quickly resolved once President Obama took office.

A highly informative recent article by Dale Kasler in The Sacramento Bee  gives a detailed history of the Clean Air Act as implemented in California, and calls attention to current tensions that may soon explode into open warfare.  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is enthusiastically giving effect to President Trump’s hostility toward regulatory efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.  Therefore, as described in detail in the article, there is now a serious risk that the EPA will deny California the certification it needs to fight Global Warming aggressively.

Kasler reports that Pruitt’s decision is expected by April 1.  Any action by the “Environmental Protection Agency” to prevent California from protecting the state’s environment would certainly fit well within the spirit of April Fool’s Day.

In a related development, on March 7 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a creative effort by the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain “mandamus” (essentially an emergency court order) to prevent the federal district court in Oregon from moving ahead with its planned trial in the Juliana case.  Young plaintiffs are challenging various federal policies that contribute to Global Warming and threaten their future.  The district judge concluded that the plaintiffs’ case is substantial enough to go to trial, and it is expected that the proceeding will involve extensive expert scientific testimony.

The federal government is desperate to prevent the trial because it will inevitably attract further attention to the issues surrounding Global Warming, but at least so far it has been unable to find a procedural mechanism to derail the lawsuit.  The mandamus request was denied.

 

 

 

 

 

Policy Analysis in the Legislative Process

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Today’s post is on policy analysis in the legislative process. Specifically, we’ll be exploring differences between the policy analysis process used in the California Legislature and the processes used in academia and elsewhere.

For anyone who has seen a bill introduced in the California Legislature that’s in print, one of the first items you see is a section titled The Legislative Counsel’s Digest. Is this actually an analysis of the bill? Not really. Instead, the purpose of the Legislative Counsel’s Digest is to succinctly describe what current law is, and then summarize the changes that are proposed in the bill.

Legislative proposals in California are analyzed by the staff of committees to which they are referred, as well as by the staff of the respective houses prior to a proposal coming up for a floor vote. As a result, a typical bill that makes it into law is analyzed as many as six times – by a policy committee in each house, by a fiscal committee in each house, and on the floor of each house.

In the California Legislature there’s no fixed policy analysis methodology, but there is one commonality that differentiates the policy analysis process in the Legislature from the process used in academia and elsewhere.  In the California Legislature, we find that policy analysis is generally focused on the evaluation of a specific proposal. In other words, rather than beginning the analysis with the definition of the problem, the analysis emanates from a proposed solution that is proposed in the bill.

The policy analysis methodologies that are taught in academia and used in other sectors tend to start from the definition of the problem and once the public policy problem is defined, then the analysis turns to identifying and evaluating various alternatives to address that stated problem. This policy analysis is usually a rigorous, multi-step process that involves a thorough analysis of the various alternative means of addressing the public policy problem.

While there are some practical realities that make it difficult, if not impossible, for legislative bodies and legislative staff to apply traditional policy analysis on each and every bill, this does not mean that traditional policy analysis cannot be infused into at least a portion of the legislative process. I explore some potential ways the California Legislature could do so in the podcast.

I think the legislative process would be better served in the long-term by providing greater policy analysis of both the problems and solutions being debated by members of the Legislature.

 

 

 

Ethics Rules for California Lobbyists

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Today’s podcast is on lobbying ethics rules. There are only a few specific laws that address ethical rules for lobbyists.

Beyond those, lobbyists are encouraged to abide by a code of ethics in conducting their professional activities. These include the code of ethics adopted and maintained by the Institute of Governmental Advocates, IGA, an organization to which many Sacramento lobbyists belong, and a code of ethics adopted by the California Legislature.

So what are some of the state’s lobbying laws? For starters, there is the Political Reform Act, the PRA, which was adopted by the voters in a statewide election as Proposition 9 in 1974. The PRA contains the main statutes concerning the ethical rules for the lobbying profession in the state of California. The details of the statute concerning ethical rules are covered in the podcast.

In addition to what is covered in the PRA and Government Code, there are other state laws that impose certain ex parte communication restrictions on the participants in administrative adjudicatory proceedings and before certain state agencies, such as the Public Utilities Commission. There are also revolving door prohibitions that affect public officials who go into the lobbying profession that essentially preclude them from communicating with or appearing before any state agency for which they worked during the 12 months before leaving state employment.

Lobbyists are also subject to criminal laws, including bribery and extortion laws as well as mail fraud, wire fraud, and the infamous RICO statute.

As I said before, in addition to the laws by which lobbyists must abide, there is also a legislative code of ethics that the Legislature adopted for lobbyists. In addition to the legislative code of ethics, the IGA has a code of ethics that lobbyists must abide by.

The details of those codes of ethics can be found in the podcast. Thanks for listening.

The Clinic – Episode 1: Introducing Keri and Michelle

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We’re excited to announce the launch of a new series here on CAP·impact that we’re calling The Clinic. CAP·impact exists to make it easier to understand the legislative process. We do that by utilizing the knowledge and experience of experts who work in California’s public policy world.

In this new series, we’ll explore California’s legislative process through the experiences of people just beginning to experience California’s legislative process. In this first season, those people are two McGeorge students, Keri Firth and Michelle Evans, who are both participating in the Legislative and Public Policy Clinic.

In the first episode we’ll meet our two students, get to them know them, their inspirations, and their bill. As the show goes on, and as their bill progresses further and further through the Legislature, we’ll progress with them. Speaking of their bill, Keri and Michelle are working on a bill affecting California’s foster care system that would create a pilot program for counties to give foster parents access to in home coaching after they receive a foster child.

We’ll get into more details of the bill and the legislative process in later episodes. For now, we hope you enjoy meeting Michelle and Keri, and learning a little bit more about their bill.

Lobbying the Budget

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There are some who are intimidated by the process of lobbying the budget. One theory as to why they’re intimidated is, put simply, that it contains numbers and people are intimidated by numbers. That’s just one theory. However, there are quite a few subtle and not so subtle differences between lobbying the budget and lobbying any other piece of legislation that can make the budget process seem more intimidating. Today’s podcast with veteran lobbyists Ray LeBov and Chris Micheli seeks to demystify that process.

There are two very important things to understand about the budget. First, remember that in some ways, the budget bill is a bill just like any other bill – but in some ways unlike any other bill. The other thing to keep in mind is why the budget is so important because it can do things to you and your client(s) or for you and your client(s).

We’ll go over the calendar for the budget here and leave the other topics Ray and Chris discuss for you to listen to. The first difference between lobbying the budget and lobbying legislation is the calendar. The budget does not run on the normal legislative calendar. The budget process starts right after beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1. There is a lot of behind the scenes work over the next six months culminating in the Governor’s budget proposal on January 10, which kicks off the legislative portion of budget lobbying.

After the Governor announces the budget proposal, it becomes two identical bills – one in the Assembly and one in the Senate – that begin to work their way through the California Legislature. The bills start in their respective house’s Budget Committee, and then the work on the budget gets divided up between the budget subcommittees which work on different issue area jurisdictions within the budget.

After the subcommittee process is completed, the budget bill goes back to the full Budget Committee, which essentially amends the recommended changes from the subcommittees into the budget bill. The next step in the legislative process is conference committee to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget. That said, they can make changes to the budget bill that were identical in the versions the two houses sent over in addition to reconciling differences between the two versions of the budget bill.

After conference committee come negotiations between the Big Three – the two Democratic leaders in the Legislature and the Governor – to negotiate any final changes to the budget. Then, by June 15, the budget is passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor to be signed. The Governor has the final say on the budget and can either reduce, or completely line item veto, appropriations in the budget.

 

 

 

LORA and How to Examine California Legislative Records

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Dan Walters had a commentary column on CALmatters earlier this week about the California Legislature and the Legislative Open Records Act that governs what the Legislature can and cannot choose to release to members of the public. Today’s podcast examines the Legislative Open Records Act, or LORA.

Pursuant to LORA, record requests by members of the public must be made in writing and be submitted to either the Senate Committee on the Rules or the Assembly Rules Committee, depending on the location of the documents being requested.

Generally, the respective rules committee will respond within 3-10 days upon receiving written requests for legislative records. If a request is denied, the individual who made the request is entitled to a written explanation of that denial.

Another general rule is that the records may not be removed from the office space that is designated for records inspection, and must be inspected in the presence of a designated staff member from the Legislature. The public can request copies of legislative records.

LORA does list categories of legislative records that are exempt from public inspection. A not-exhaustive list of some of those categories includes:

  • Records pertaining to certain claims against the Legislature until they’re finally adjudicated or settled, and records pertaining to litigation to which the Legislature is a party, until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or settled;
  • Records of complaints to the Legislature, its investigations, and its security procedures;
  • Correspondence of members and their staff;
  • Written commentary submitted to a Committee on legislation that was not utilized by the staff; and
  • Other records determined by the Committee to be confidential and records where, based on the facts of the particular case, the Joint Rules Committee believes that the public interested served by not disclosing the records outweighs the public interest served by disclosing the records.

I explore other components of LORA in more depth in the brief podcast, so be sure to listen.

 

 

 

Advocacy in Practice with Judge Consuelo Callahan

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Associate Dean for Experiential Learning Mary-Beth Moylan recently sat down with Judge Consuelo Callahan from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

They discussed Callahan’s path to the bench starting from her career right out of law school; her judicial life on the Court of Appeals; and advice, insights, and observations for attorneys appearing before her in the Ninth Circuit.

One thing in particular that stands out is Judge Callahan’s advice to attorneys – especially those working with Court of Appeals justices. She said “The point [of oral argument in the Appellate Court] is addressing the court’s concern and being really targeted and approaching the case thinking what would a judge want to hear? What opinion is the judge going to write in this and how can I assist the court?”

She emphasized the importance of answering the exact question a judge asks in order to help direct the conversation in a way that you want to argue. This way, you can address what the court finds important in their decision-making process.

Another important point that Callahan made was about preparing for court, setting high standards early on, and establishing good work habits. She put it a little more bluntly than that, saying:

we will do our jobs regardless of whether you do your job.”

Callahan also pointed out some resources to help attorneys make the best arguments and be prepared for their time in the Court of Appeals. The Appellate Reps for the Ninth Circuit host a mentorship program, where attorneys are assigned someone that is a specialist in the area of law.

Judge Callahan gave some amazing insight in her interview that would intrigue anyone in the legal field – attorneys and judges alike. You’ll have to listen to the rest of the podcast for all of her advice.

We hope you enjoy listening to the conversation with Judge Consuelo Callahan. Be sure to tune in next time!

 

 

 

Laws Regulating Lobbyists

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Today’s podcast is a brief overview of some of the laws that regulate the lobbying profession in California. In the podcast, I go over lobbying laws and campaigns laws, and how they impact lobbyists.

The Political Reform Act of 1974, often referred to as the PRA, was adopted by the voters as Proposition 9 and is the main law governing lobbying ethics and political campaigns. Note that some cities and counties have locally adopted ordinances regulating lobbying activity as well.

The PRA charges the Fair Political Practices Commission, also known as the FPPC, with enforcing the PRA. I will leave most of the details of the laws regulating lobbyists to the podcast, and here, direct you to where in the Government Code and California Code of Regulations you can find the various laws regulating lobbyists.

The purpose of lobbyist regulation as stated in the PRA is found in Title 9. It reads:

The activities of lobbyists should be regulated and their finances disclosed in order that improper influences will not be directed at public officials.”

Chapter 6 of Title 9 deals specifically with lobbyists. Chapter 6 contains Sections 86100 through 86300. In addition to the laws found in Government Code provisions, the FPPC has adopted regulations on lobbying. Those regulations are contained in Title 2, Sections 18109 through 18997 of the California Code of Regulations.

Article 1 of Chapter 6 of the Government Code sets forth the registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists, Article 2 of the Government Code deals with prohibitions, and Article 3 of Chapter 6 deals with specified exemptions. Again, I go over the contents of those articles in the podcast. The laws I have pointed to here specifically deal with lobbying – you’ll need to listen to the audio for a discussion on how campaign laws impact lobbyists.