Publishing Letters to the Journal (transcript)

Today’s post is on publishing letters to the Journal for determining legislative intent.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/publishing-letters-to-the-journal

Sometimes in order to explain the intent behind a specific piece of legislation, one or both houses of the Legislature will utilize a process by which a legislator publishes a letter stating his or

Rules of Statutory Construction (transcript)

Today’s post is on rules of statutory construction primarily for the non-lawyer.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/rules-of-statutory-construction

For those working in and around the California State Capitol, it’s important to understand general rules of statutory construction whether you’re a lawyer or a non-lawyer.

The general rule of statutory construction is to effectuate the

Court Cases Related to California’s Legislative Process (transcript)

Today’s post is an overview of specified court cases related to California’s legislative process.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/court-cases-related-to-californias-legislative-process/s-T7BAt

As you can imagine, there are a number California Appellate Court decisions that related to the legislative process. These cases deal with a number of separate and distinct issues. While I

The California Legislature’s Organizing Session (transcript)

With this year being an even numbered year, the California Legislature’s organizing session will take place next Monday, December 3. Today’s post and podcast is an overview of California’s legislative organizing session.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/the-california-legislatures-organizing-session/s-GJSms

As you may be aware, the California Legislature operates during two-year legislative sessions. At the commencement

Methods of Floor Voting (transcript)

Today’s post is on the methods of voting on the floors of the California State Assembly and State Senate.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/methods-of-floor-voting

In the two houses of the California Legislature, there are differences in how voting by legislators is conducted on the floors of the State Assembly and State Senate. The

Conducting Business on the Floors (transcript)

Today’s post is on conducting business on the floors.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/conducting-business-on-the-floors

The California Legislature conducts its business both in policy and fiscal committees as well as on the floors of the State Assembly and the State Senate. Each house determines its own rules and specifies how business will be

Floor Items (transcript)

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/floor-items

This post is on floor items. We’re going to cover, briefly, the unfinished business file, the inactive file, the use of floor managers, and WORFs. What are they?

The unfinished business file: both the Assembly Daily File as well as the Senate Daily File contain a portion titled “Unfinished

On today’s episode, we talk about the legislative, legal, and policy issues that face my favorite special interest in California state government and politics – craft beer. And to get more insight into that topic I brought Tom McCormick of the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) and McGeorge Professor – and craft beer law expert

Ethics for Legislative Staff (transcript)

Today’s post is on ethics for legislative staff.

https://soundcloud.com/capimpactca/ethics-for-legislative-staff

Just like California legislators, who are bound by laws and codes of conduct, there are also guides for the conduct of legislative staff as they serve these elected officials and the public. For example, the National Conference of State Legislatures –