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The Legislative Process

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How the Process Works

How to Find Legislative Information

How to Influence the Process

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How a Bill is Created

• Legislation is introduced for many reasons:

– There is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed

– There is something new that needs to be regulated– Someone has an idea to make something better– There is a budget item that needs legislation to be

enacted

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Starts with an Idea

• A constituent, an organization, or a legislator themselves has an idea for legislation.

• The constituent or organization looks for potential legislators to author the bill. They look at potential author’s bio, legislative history, their interests, committee membership, and how they have voted on similar legislation in the past.

• Once they find a legislator interested in authoring the bill the legislative process begins.

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Bill is Introduced

• The legislator submits the idea or the proposed bill language to Legislative counsel, where it is turned into the language of the bill.

• The bill number, title, and description are then read for the first time on the floor of the house and is thereby officially introduced

• The bill has to be in print for 30 days before any action can be taken.

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Committees

Committees and committee hearings are important parts of the legislative process. Every bill must go through the committee process. Committee hearings give the public an open forum to hear discussions on legislative issues and express their opinions.

Public hearings shed light on what our elected officials are considering. They give the public the ability to hear discussions about legislative issues and express their thoughts to the legislators themselves. It is also an opportunity to share information and give legislators some insight on how their decisions affect people in real world situations.

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Committees

• Rules Committee• The Rules Committee of each house decides which bills will go to what committees for hearing

• Rules committee will assign bills to the appropriate committees based on the subject

matter of the bill and if there are any fiscal implications. It may get referred to more than

one policy committee if it has overlapping subject matter.

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Policy Committee(s)

Policy Committees review legislation from a policy perspective, looking at whether or not the legislation makes sense or would achieve its intended results.

The staff of the policy committees create the committee analysis of a bill

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Appropriations Committees

Each house has a fiscal committee called the Appropriations Committee.

A bill will be referred to Appropriations if there are any fiscal implications or require the expenditure of any

state money

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Assembly Committees• Accountability and Administrative Revi

ew• Aging And Long-Term Care• Agriculture• Appropriations• Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, a

nd Internet Media• Banking and Finance• Budget• Business, Professions and Consumer Pr

otection• Education• Elections and Redistricting• Environmental Safety and Toxic Materi

als• Governmental Organization• Health• Higher Education• Housing and Community Development

• Human Services• Insurance• Jobs, Economic Development, and the

Economy• Judiciary• Labor and Employment• Local Government• Natural Resources• Public Employees, Retirement and Soci

al Security• Public Safety• Revenue and Taxation• Rules• Transportation• Utilities and Commerce• Veterans Affairs• Water, Parks and Wildlife

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Senate Committees

• Agriculture• Appropriations• Banking and Financial Instit

utions• Budget and Fiscal Review• Business, Professions and Ec

onomic Development• Education• Elections and Constitutional

Amendments• Energy, Utilities and Commu

nications• Environmental Quality• Governance and Finance• Governmental Organization

• Health• Human Services• Insurance• Judiciary• Labor and Industrial Relations• Legislative Ethics• Natural Resources and Water• Public Employment and Retire

ment• Public Safety• Rules• Transportation and Housing• Veterans Affairs

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Floor Vote

• When a bill passes out of the appropriate committees of that house, it then goes to the floor of that house for a vote.

• If a bill has costs attached to it, or if it is an urgency bill, it must get 27 votes in the Senate or 54 votes in the Assembly

• If no costs or urgency status, a bill must get 21 votes in the Senate or 41 votes in the Assembly

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Second House

• Once the bill has passed the first house, it will go through the same process all over again in the second house

• If the bill is in different form when it passes the second house, it must go back to the original house for concurrence, where the members will vote on the amended bill

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On to the Governor’s Office

• If the Governor signs the bill, it becomes law on January 1st of the new year.

• If the bill had “urgency status”, it will take effect immediately

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Where to Find Information

Handy Websites

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Legislative Glossaryhttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/glossary.html

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Influencing the Outcome

Writing Letters, Meeting with Legislators and Staff,

and Testifying

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Timing

• Make sure you get involved early in the process– especially if you are asking for amendments

• Letters to committees should be sent no later than one week prior to the hearing to make the committee analysis

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Deadlines

• The legislature has many deadlines (see handout) and those deadlines wait for no one:

– May 3 is the last day for policy committees to hear bills introduced in their house that have to go to the fiscal committee (Appropriations)

– May 10 is the last day for policy committees to pass non-fiscal bills introduced in their house.

– May 24 is the last day for fiscal committees to hear bills introduced in their house

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Influencing Legislators or the Administration Directly

Meetings and Influencing Other Organizations

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Practical Tips on How to Meet with Your Legislator

1. Every citizen has the right to seek a meeting with their legislator,councilperson or other elected representative.• Keep track of who your legislators are and what they areinterested in.2. Plan your meeting with a legislator.• Decide what you are going to talk about. Don't talk about a lotof issues -- stick to no more than two or three.• Decide what you want to get out of the visit, for example, apromise to vote for your issue or maybe you just want to givethe legislator information about the issue.• Allow time for small talk, but not too much.3. Listen.• Figuring out the legislator’s views will help you know whatinformation to give.• If you are meeting with a "silent type” – ask questions to getthem to talk.• If you are meeting with a "long-winded type" – gently bringthem back to the point.

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4. Be prepared, but you don't have to be an expert.• Most legislators aren’t experts either. Do your homework, butyou don’t have to know every little detail. Talk about yourpersonal feelings and experiences.• It is OK to say "I don't know," and say you’ll find out.• Don't argue or confront.5. Don't stay too long.• If you get what you want, say thanks and leave. If you don’t getwhat you want, say thanks, that you are disappointed and leave.• Remember you may come back, so leave on a good note.6. Remember you are there to build a relationship.• If the legislator is good on an issue you’ve been interested in,say thanks during the visit.• If they have not, there may be another issue where they will beon your side.• Your visit may keep them from actively opposing your issue.7. Follow-up is important.• Be sure to send a thank-you card. If staff members were there,write to them too. They can be important allies.

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8. Letter Writing: Writing to a public official does make a difference.They know that every person who writes represents many others whofeel the same but don't write. Follow these tips:• Be clear about what you want.• Tell a story or example to make the issue real.• Ask for a direct response with their position.• Personal letters are much better than form letters or petitions.9. Get to know the legislator’s staff: Many legislators have staff peopleyou can contact. They are usually more accessible and can help getyour message to the legislator.

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GETTING HELP FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Another way to help influence the outcome is to urge other organizations to support your position on the bill. Find organizations that deal with the issue you are following and ask them to write letters or testify supporting your

position. They might be able to help with visits to committee members and other legislators. They may also be able to help you bring more people to the committee to

help influence the committee members.