January 16, 2024
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE SCHEDULE REFRESHER
The legislative schedule is as follows. Hopefully, this will help clarify the process. There truly is some order to what they do, but sometimes it does not seem that way.
Friday, January 10, the Governor is required to have a draft budget to the legislature.
His final budget must be passed by the Legislature no later than June 15. Should the legislature not pass the budget, the legislators will have their pay docked. Hence it is always passed on time, especially with an almost one-party legislature that is the same as the Governor.
(We will address the budget in future updates.)
January 24 is the last day to submit proposed bills to the Office of Legislative Council for a legal review of the proposal.
February 21 is the last day for bills to be introduced after the legal review.
- Bills are reviewed by the appropriate committees in their house of origin, the Senate or the Assembly.
- They then go to the other house for review and approval or they can be stopped or sent back to the house of origin for a re-write.
Bills must be cleared by both houses to be presented to the Governor in September.
Bills must be signed or vetoed by the governor by October 12th.
As a reminder, the Senate and Assembly both reduced the number of bills each legislature is allowed to submit down from 50 to 35. This means the number of bills reviewed will be greatly reduced over the two-year legislative cycle.
_____________________________________________________________________________
IN THE NEWS
Bill Essayli, Republican Assemblyman AD63 (Riverside County)
Assemblyman Essayli continues in the news following his Judiciary Committee removal in June 2024. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas removed him from the body after he called Democrat Pilar Schiavo a “pedophile protector” on social media. Schiavo had joined her fellow Democrats in blocking Essayli’s attempt to force a vote on his Assembly Bill 2641, which would have required law enforcement to cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities when someone is convicted of a sex crime against a minor.
Two sides can play this game
AB 85, as introduced (01/06/2025), Essayli. Law enforcement: cooperation with immigration authorities.
Under existing law, a law enforcement official has limited discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities, and may only provide information regarding a person’s release date or transfer an individual to immigration authorities without a judicial warrant or probable cause determination if the individual has been convicted of specified crimes, including, but not limited to, serious and violent felonies, as specified, and only if doing so would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy.
Notwithstanding those provisions, this bill would instead require law enforcement officials to cooperate with immigration authorities by detaining and transferring an individual and providing release information if a person has been convicted of a felony. By requiring local law enforcement to comply with requests from immigration authorities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
In Addition
Assemblyman Bill Essayli Calls on Governor Newsom to Convene Special Session on Wildfires
SACRAMENTO, Calif., January 8, 2025 – Today, Assemblyman Bill Essayli sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom formally requesting him to call a Special Legislative Session on wildfires amid historic wildfires spreading across Los Angeles.
(After all, the governor called a Special Session in December to address Legislation to “Trump Proof” California!)
“California is suffering an unmitigated wildfire disaster because we have a Governor who is more interested in ‘Trump-Proofing’ California instead of fireproofing our state. There is no excuse for California — the 5th largest economy and tech capital of the world — to look like third world-country when we face predictable, preventable wildfires. The tragic loss of life and property occurring right now in Los Angeles is a direct result of failed Democrat policies pushed by environmental extremists who control this Legislature,” Assemblyman Bill Essayli stated.
“Governor Newsom has one job: protect Californian citizens, and he has failed again with the 8th wildfire under his watch. Instead of protecting California, Governor Newsom cares more about protecting his political dreams which is why he called for a Special Session to ‘Trump-Proof’ California. I am calling on him to do his job and instead fireproof California and call for a Special Legislative Session on wildfires so we can immediately (1) fund critical firefighting efforts and upgrade our infrastructure; (2) pass policy changes to allow for needed fire mitigation, such as controlled burns and undergrounding of power lines, and (3) address the fire insurance crisis Californian’s are currently facing,” added Asm. Essayli.
Click to see his letter:
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.