legislation Archives - Page 7 of 16

Higher Education and California Labor Relations Legislation

March 21, 2022 12:12 pmMarch 21, 2022 12:18 pm

When the California Legislature proposes legislation involving higher education employer-employee relations, the Legislature is bound by any memorandum of understanding (MOU) that may be in place. For example, if the Legislature wants to require the California State University to create...

Bills That Need to Go Before Voters

March 13, 2022 10:10 amMarch 13, 2022 10:15 am

Even though a statute is created by a bill (or by an initiative measure), the California Legislature in certain instances must place a bill before the voters. According to Elections Code Section 9040: Every constitutional amendment, bond measure, or other...

What Does a Bill Propose to Do to a Law?

March 11, 2022 7:52 amMarch 11, 2022 11:19 am

Bills in the California Legislature can do one of three things or a combination of those three: Add a statute; amend a statute; or, repeal a statute. Bills can be found at the following website: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ This website is maintained...

A sea of empty desks inside the California State Assembly

Should California Bills Use ‘Includes’ or ‘Means?’

March 10, 2022 9:19 amMarch 10, 2022 9:22 am

When attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel are drafting bills for California legislators, they often delete the word “includes” and substitute it with the word “means.” Why is that being done by these legislative lawyers? The following example comes...

What Does the Term ‘Construe’ Mean in California Statutes?

March 9, 2022 9:53 amMarch 9, 2022 9:58 am

While continuing to read through proposed new laws for the 2022 California Legislative Session, I occasionally come by a bill that uses the term “construed” and it mostly is used in a negative form. The word “construe” basically means to...

California’s Retroactive v. Prospective Legislation

March 8, 2022 6:49 amMarch 8, 2022 6:56 am

In most instances, legislation applies prospectively, meaning after the law has been enacted and takes effect. Nonetheless, there are times when the Legislature desires statutes to be applied retroactively, and sometimes they also specify a prospective application date. The following...

Speaking in an Affirmative Voice in Legislation

February 26, 2022 8:34 amFebruary 26, 2022 8:53 am

The California Legislature has taken the approach of changing existing statutes to reflect an affirmative or active voice, rather than a negative voice, in legislation. As a result, the Office of Legislative Counsel is changing statutes to reflect this approach....