California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

House ResolutionNo. 14


Introduced by Assembly Member Melendez

March 11, 2015


House Resolution No. 14—Relative to Assembly Rule 49.

P1    1WHEREAS, It is the intent of the Legislature to improve the
2management of legislative proposals and enhance the deliberative
3process inherent in considering changes in law; and

4WHEREAS, In the 2013-14 Regular Session there were 4,786
5bills and resolutions introduced in the Assembly and Senate; and

6WHEREAS, In the 2013-14 Regular Session there were 1,738
7bills passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor;
8and

9WHEREAS, Under Rule 49 of the Standing Rules of the
10Assembly, a Member of the California State Assembly may not
11introduce more than 40 bills in a legislative session; and

12WHEREAS, It is the intent of the Legislature to improve public
13engagement in the legislative process by further limiting the
14volume of proposals considered in a legislative session in order to
15allow constituents to more easily monitor and participate in the
16work of the Legislature; and

17WHEREAS, The Legislature has determined that a limit of 30
18bills per Member will further the intent to improve public
19engagement while allowing sufficient opportunity to address
20district and statewide issues; and

21WHEREAS, To prevent an unfair impact on Members working
22under the existing limit of 40 bills per session, the Legislature has
23determined that the aforementioned limit should be implemented
24over the next two years, with the 30-bill limit taking effect in the
P2    12017-18 Regular Session, should that Legislature seek to continue
2this effort; now, therefore, be it

3Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That Rule
449 of the Standing Rules of the Assembly for the 2015-16 Regular
5Session is amended to read:

67Limitation on the Introduction of Bills
8

949. (a) A Member may introduce not more thanbegin delete 40end deletebegin insert 30end insert bills in
10the regular session. As used in this rule, “bills” includes
11constitutional amendments.

12(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of this rule, a Member may
13introduce not more than five resolutions in the regular session. As
14used in this rule, “resolutions” include House, Concurrentbegin insert,end insert and
15Joint Resolutions, but do not include resolutions introduced by a
16Member for the specific purpose of organizing a session that is
17convened pursuant tobegin insert subdivision (a) of Section 3 ofend insert Article IVbegin delete,
18Section 3(a)end delete
of thebegin delete Stateend deletebegin insert Californiaend insert Constitution or resolutions
19introduced by the Speaker as part of a session honoring a retiring
20Assembly Member.

21(c) This rule may be suspended with respect to a particular bill
22 or resolution by approval of the Committee on Rules.

begin insert

23(d) This rule does not apply to a bill that would take effect
24immediately as an urgency statute.

end insert


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