BILL NUMBER: ACA 1 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Silva
DECEMBER 1, 2008
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, Silva. Legislature.
The California Constitution generally provides that no bill may be
passed unless a majority of the membership of each house concurs.
This measure would provide that no bill that would result in more
than $150,000 of annual expenditures by the state, as determined by
the Department of Finance, may be passed unless, by rollcall vote
entered in the journal, 2/3 of the membership of each house concurs.
The Department of Finance would be required to analyze every bill
introduced during a regular or special session of the Legislature and
each amendment to that bill to determine whether the bill, as
introduced or as amended, would result in more than $150,000 in
annual expenditures by the state, and to submit this determination to
the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, the Secretary of the Senate, the Chief Clerk of the
Assembly, and the Legislative Counsel.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2009-10 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2008, 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 committee or either house until the
31st day after the bill is introduced unless the house dispenses with
this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the journal, three
fourths of the membership concurring.
(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 days in each house
except that the house may dispense with this requirement by rollcall
vote entered in the journal, 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) Notwithstanding the vote requirement in paragraph (1), no bill
that would result in more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000) of annual expenditures by the State, as determined by the
Department of Finance, or its successor, may be passed unless, by
rollcall vote entered in the journal, two thirds of the membership of
each house concurs.
(3) The Department of Finance, or its successor, shall analyze
every bill introduced during a regular or special session of the
Legislature and each amendment to that bill to determine whether the
bill, as introduced or as amended, would result in more than one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in annual expenditures by
the State. The Department of Finance, or its successor, shall submit
in writing this determination to the Senate Committee on
Appropriations, or its successor, the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, or its successor, the Secretary of the Senate, the
Chief Clerk of the Assembly, and the Legislative Counsel as soon
practicable after the bill is introduced or amended.
(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
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.