Bill Text: CA ACA1 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Legislative procedure.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [ACA1 Detail]
Download: California-2015-ACA1-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: ACA 1 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Olsen
(Principal coauthors: Senators Huff and Wolk)
DECEMBER 1, 2014
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 8
of Article IV thereof, relating to the Legislature.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACA 1, as introduced, Olsen. Legislative procedure.
The California Constitution prohibits a bill other than the Budget
Bill from being heard or acted on by a committee or either house of
the Legislature until the 31st day after the bill is introduced,
unless the house dispenses with this requirement by rollcall vote
entered in the journal, 3/4 of the membership concurring.
This measure would add an additional exception to this 31-day
waiting period by authorizing a committee to hear or act on a bill if
the bill, in the form to be considered by the committee, has been in
print and published on the Internet for at least 15 days.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution prohibit either
house of the Legislature from passing a bill until the bill with
amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members.
This measure would also prohibit either house of the Legislature
from passing a bill until the bill, in the form to be voted on, has
been made available to the public, in print and published on the
Internet, for at least 72 hours preceding the vote. This requirement
would not apply to specified urgency bills upon the submission by the
Governor to the Legislature of a written statement that it is
necessary to dispense with the requirement to address a state of
emergency declared by the Governor.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
That Section 8 of Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 8. (a) At regular sessions , no bill other
than the budget bill may be heard or acted on by a
committee or either house until the 31st day after the bill is
introduced unless the , except in either of
the following circumstances:
(1) A committee or either
house may hear or act on a bill if t he house
dispenses with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the
journal, three fourths three-fourths of
the membership concurring.
(2) A committee may hear or act on a
bill if the bill, in the form to be considered by the
committee, has been in print and published on the Internet for at
least 15 days.
(b) (1) The Legislature may make no law
except by statute and may enact no statute except by bill. No bill
may be passed unless it is read by title on 3
three days in each house except that the
a house may dispense with this requirement by rollcall
vote entered in the journal, two thirds
two-thirds of the membership concurring. No bill may be passed
until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to
the members. No bill may be passed unless, by rollcall vote entered
in the journal, a majority of the membership of each house concurs.
(2) (A) No bill may be passed in either house until the bill, in
the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public, in
print and published on the Internet, for at least 72 hours before the
vote.
(B) This paragraph does not apply to a bill that contains an
urgency clause if the Governor submits to the Legislature a written
statement, for that bill, that dispensing with the requirement in
subparagraph (A) is necessary to address a state of emergency
declared by the Governor. "Emergency," for the purposes of this
paragraph, has the same meaning as in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B and does not include a fiscal
emergency declared pursuant to Section 10 of this article.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of
this subdivision , a statute enacted at a regular session
shall go into effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from
the date of enactment of the statute and a statute enacted at a
special session shall go into effect on the 91st day after
adjournment of the special session at which the bill was passed.
(2) A statute, other than a statute establishing or changing
boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or other election
district, enacted by a bill passed by the Legislature on or before
the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in
the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session,
and in the possession of the Governor after that date, shall go into
effect on January 1 next following the enactment date of the statute
unless, before January 1, a copy of a referendum petition affecting
the statute is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II, in which event the
statute shall go into effect on the 91st day after the enactment date
unless the petition has been presented to the Secretary of State
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9 of Article II.
(3) Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies
or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and
urgency statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their
enactment.
(d) Urgency statutes are those necessary for immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. A statement of
facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of
the bill. In each house the section and the bill shall be passed
separately, each by rollcall vote entered in the journal,
two thirds two-thirds of the membership
concurring. An urgency statute may not create or abolish any office
or change the salary, term, or duties of any office, or grant any
franchise or special privilege, or create any vested right or
interest.
