From Idea to Law: Making Legislation in California Part 1

Part 1. Bill Creation and Introduction

Writing all this down is such a hassle and a poor way to explain a fairly involved process, I tried to draw a flowchart that would show just how the system works but either I’m very bad at using simple graphic programs (unlikely) or the makers of flowchart software like their programs being unintuitive and overly complicated (more likely).  So until I can figure out these arcane and obscure drawing programs I’ll have to use words to paint this picture…

Like everything legislation (laws, bills, statues, code, etc.) starts out as an idea.   Most of these ideas come from regular people like you and me (or organizations of regular people like you and me) who’ve taken that idea to their state representative, either an Assemblymember or Senator (find your’s here), and convinced them to try and make a law based on it.  Or the member has their own ideas (truly?!)  Once a legislator has an idea they fill out a form that explains what they want the law to do and how they want it implemented and hand that over to the Legislative Counsel of California. Leg. Council is the team of lawyers and attorneys who work for the Assembly and Senate, they do legal research, draft the actual bill language, find out where in statute it’d fit, conflicts that your new law would create, tell you if a similar law already exists or has been attempted before, etc.  In rare instances they serve as the actual lawyers for members of the Legislature if the they need legal representation, counsel, etc.

Once all the legal book work has been done the draft bill is returned to the legislator for review (by him/her or the people (individuals, interest groups, lobby groups) who originated the idea).  If there are problems the draft is sent back to Lg. Council for correction.  Once the bill has been drafted to the author’s satisfaction the bill (the actual physical document with the author’s signature is delivered to the desk (either Senate or Assembly).  The bill is assigned a number (bills are numbered on a first come-first served basis) by the Chief Clerk, for the Assembly, or the Secretary (Senate).  Once the bill has been assigned a number it is read for the first time at the desk, the California Constitution states that a bill must be read on three different days before it is passed out of a house (this can be suspended with a vote of 2/3 of the body).

Once a bill has been introduced and read for the 1st time, it goes to the Rules Committee where it is assigned to a policy committee for debate and public comment.  The bill is then sent to the State printer to be printed.  Bills cannot be acted on until after 30 days  from their introduction and printing. This gives citizens, policy institutes, and legislators and their staff time to read and understand each bill before it is taken up in a policy committee.

Next post I’ll explain the policy committee process, describe the various Senate and Assembly policy committees, and how bills are amended.

Author: Jonathon

Would rather be out swimming, running, or camping. Works in state government. Spent a youth reading genre-fiction; today, he is making up for it by reading large quantities of non-fiction literature. The fact that truth, in every way, is more fascinating than fiction still tickles him. View all posts by Jonathon