Subject Guide for the California Law Making Process
Contents
Introduction
Most documents listed below are in Ref/CA, in Reference Services (1st floor, Library Addition), unless otherwise noted. See A Brief Guide to Researching California Public Policy or the more thorough Researching California Public Policy for more information.
Top of PageLegislative Action
A two-year Legislative session begins. Assembly Members and Senators sponsor public policy proposals that are introduced in the Assembly and Senate as numbered bills. Campanion bills may be introduced in both the Assembly and the Senate during the same Legislative session. Similar but renumbered bills may also be reintroduced in subsequent Legislative sessions.
Bills from the current legislative session are in Ref/CA; bills from recent legislative sessions are available in electronic format. Examples of bill numbering are:
- AB 1, the 1st bill introduced in the Assembly during a Legislative session, and
- S 100, the 100th bill introduced in the Senate during a Legislative session.
Some bills are referred to Assembly and Senate Committees or two-house Conference Committees. Committee action can produce the following types of documents, some of which are available in electronic format:
- Bill Analyses [in electronic format]
- Committee Hearing(s) [in Government Publications (3rd floor, Love Library)]
- Committee Report(s) [in Government Publications (3rd floor, Love Library)]
Some bills are passed by BOTH the Assembly and the Senate.
The following Web sites provide additional information on Legislative action as part of the California law making process:
Top of PageExecutive Action
Gubernatorial Action
Some bills are signed into Chapters by the Governor. For example, Chapter 1 of 1998 was the first Chapter of 1998. Gubernatorial action can produce the following types of documents, the last of which is in Ref, and some of which are also available in electronic format:
- individual chapters printed in the Statutes and Amendments to the Code and later codified as part of the current law in
- the California Codes and in
- West's Annotated California Codes
Executive Agency Action
Executive agencies can issue program regulations based on Chapters. Executive agency action will produce the following types of documents, the latter of which is available in electronic format:
- notices of individual proposed AND final regulations in the California Regulatory Notice Register, later codified as part of the current regulations in
- the California Code of Regulations
Judicial Action
The courts interpret Chapters. California Supreme Court opinions will produce the following types of documents, the last two of which are in Ref, and some of which are also available in electronic format:
- individual opinions, first issued as Slip Opinions, later reprinted in
- the California Reports and in
- West's California Reporter
West's California Digest and West's California Digest, 2nd, both in Ref, are indexes of California Supreme Court opinions.
