How a bill becomes a law in California

1. How a bill becomes a law in California Featuring a panel discussion with state academic senate vice president, Beth Smith

2. Why do I need to understand this? • Classified Staff at community colleges in California are very impacted by the legislative activities at the state level, from how I am employed, to how my college educates all. • When I first got involved, I kept hearing about AB1725 and SB235 – what does it mean?

3. CA Assembly • 80 Seats • Smaller Districts • 2 Year Terms • Rough-and-tumble • led by Assembly Speaker POSC 121Braunwarth

4. CA Senate • 40 seats • Larger Districts • 4 Year terms • More Independence • More Prestige • More Deliberative • led by President pro tempore who shares power with the rules committee • Until 1960s, elected by county (gave more power to Northern CA) POSC 121Braunwarth

7. OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATIVE PROCESS  The process of government by which bills are considered and laws enacted is commonly referred to as the Legislative Process. The California State Legislature is made up of two houses: the Senate and the Assembly. There are 40 Senators and 80 Assembly Members representing the people of the State of California. The Legislature has a legislative calendar containing important dates of activities during its two-year session.

8. Idea All legislation begins as an idea or concept. Ideas and concepts can come from a variety of sources. The process begins when a Senator or Assembly Member decides to author a bill. The Author A Legislator sends the idea for the bill to the Legislative Counsel where it is drafted into the actual bill. The draft of the bill is returned to the Legislator for introduction. If the author is a Senator, the bill is introduced in the Senate. If the author is an Assembly Member, the bill is introduced in the Assembly.

9. First Reading/Introduction A bill is introduced or read the first time when the bill number, the name of the author, and the descriptive title of the bill is read on the floor of the house. The bill is then sent to the Office of State Printing. No bill may be acted upon until 30 days has passed from the date of its introduction.

10. Second and Third Reading Bills passed by committees are read a second time on the floor in the house of origin and then assigned to third reading. Bill analyses are also prepared prior to third reading. When a bill is read the third time it is explained by the author, discussed by the Members and voted on by a roll call vote. Bills that require an appropriation or that take effect immediately, generally require 27 votes in the Senate and 54 votes in the Assembly to be passed. Other bills generally require 21 votes in the Senate and 41 votes in the Assembly. If a bill is defeated, the Member may seek reconsideration and another vote. Repeat Process in other House Once the bill has been approved by the house of origin it proceeds to the other house where the procedure is repeated.

11. Resolution of Differences If a bill is amended in the second house, it must go back to the house of origin for concurrence, which is agreement on the amendments. If agreement cannot be reached, the bill is referred to a two house conference committee to resolve differences. Three members of the committee are from the Senate and three are from the Assembly. If a compromise is reached, the bill is returned to both houses for a vote. Governor If both houses approve a bill, it then goes to the Governor. The Governor has three choices. The Governor can sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without his or her signature, or veto it. A governor's veto can be overridden by a two thirds vote in both houses. Most bills go into effect on the first day of January of the next year. Urgency measures take effect immediately after they are signed or allowed to become law without signature.

12. California Law Bills that are passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor are assigned a chapter number by the Secretary of State. These Chaptered Bills (also referred to as Statutes of the year they were enacted) then become part of the California Codes. The California Codes are a comprehensive collection of laws grouped by subject matter. The California Constitution sets forth the fundamental laws by which the State of California is governed. All amendments to the Constitution come about as a result of constitutional amendments presented to the people for their approval.

13. Reading a Legislative Update from CCLC SB 1062 (Liu): California Community Colleges: BOG ~SUPPORT~ Summary: SB 1062 would authorize the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (BOG), rather than the Governor, to appoint a person without permanent civil service status to the position of Vice Chancellor or Assistant Vice Chancellor, if the individual meets minimum experience requirements, such as five years experience working at a community college. Background: SB 1062 implements the BOG Student Success Task Force recommendations intended to strengthen the leadership capacity of the State Chancellor’s Office. Argument for Support: SB 1062 gives the State Chancellor the authority that he/she needs to recruit and hire educational professionals in a manner equivalent to those at CSU and UC. The bill proposes a narrow, but important, change which does not amend the existing exempt process or shut out state civil service candidates from being considered for executive level positions. Rather these provisions simply remove the added step of obtaining gubernatorial approval which has delayed past appointments for as long as eighteen months. These delays have caused excellent qualified candidates to seek and obtain other employment opportunities. The bill also broadens the list of qualifying work experience so that more capable people would be eligible to serve in the Chancellor’s Office. SB 1062 will provide more flexibility for the State Chancellor’s Office and the BOG to support the California Community College System and its students. Action Requested: The League is requesting community college districts to fax a “request for signature” letter to Governor Jerry Brown. In addition, please fax one copy of your letter to Senator Carol Liu and to the League Office. Fax numbers are listed below: Please fax SB 1062 to: • Governor Jerry Brown (916) 327-1009 • Senator Carol Liu (916) 324-7543 • League Office (916) 441-0378 Download sample letter: SB 1062 Sample Letter

14. If I wanted to do more research….http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/

16. Here are some more sites for research • Legislative Process: http://www.dof.ca.gov/fisa/bag/legprcess.htm -or- http://www.counties.org/default.asp?id=19 • Leg Guide: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/guide.html • Search CA Bills: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ • LAO: http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/main.aspx • CCLC (Gov. Relations): www.ccleague.org • CA Law: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html • CA Laws and Codes: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/cl/ • CA Ed Code: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.html/edc_table_of_contents.html

17. Near and dear to my heart…http://www.ccccs.org/documents/4csdocs/sb235_interpretation-mod-sm.pdf When considering the interpretation of any law, it is essential to evaluate who will be making the interpretation and what their interests or objectives are. In the case of SB 235, several groups will be interpreting the law to see how it negatively or positively affects them. These community college groups include, but are not limited to: • classified senates • classified unions • classified employees • administrators • trustees • state classified union organizations • state classified senate organization It is equally important to consider other provisions of law that may conflict with the law under interpretation. The following interpretation is provided to focus on possible interpretation and outcomes of SB 235. The bill language, here is bold letters, is broken down for interpretation and discussion. Section 70901.2 is added to the education code, to read: (Bold) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a classified staff representative is to serve on a college or district task force, committee, or other governance group, the exclusive representative of classified employees of that college or district shall appoint the representative for the respective bargaining unit members.

18. Introducing Beth Smith…. Questions: • Why and how did you get involved with the academic senate? • What has been most rewarding about being involved? • Have you followed/lobbied/or advocated in any way for a particular bill and how did it turn out?

19. In Conclusion… Beth: • What words of advice can you give our classified leaders in terms of personal and professional growth? • If you had to chose, what one thing would you suggest that GCCCD classified senate do to collaborate most effectively in the participatory process at our district?