California Legislators Reduce Number of Bills Members Can Introduce

Lawmakers in the California Assembly consider Assembly Bill 1840 at the Capitol in Sacramento, California on Aug. 28, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

California lawmakers, on Dec. 2, the first day of the 2025-2026 legislative session, established new rules that reduce the number of bills each member can propose over a two-year period.

Bill caps were lowered to 35, down from 50 for assembly members and from 40 for senators.

Nearly 5,000 bills were introduced by members in the 2023-2024 session—representing an increase of almost 10 percent from the previous two years—including about 3,300 in the assembly and more than 1,500 in the Senate.

About 300 additional bills were introduced by various committees, including budget, education, and agriculture.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire told The Epoch Times. “In the Senate, we’re lowering the bill limit to focus more on commonsense legislation that will concentrate on the acute issues facing our state.”

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democrat representing Silicon Valley and parts of the Bay Area, agreed. She said she’s looking to do as much as she can with her bills to better her constituents’ lives and those of all Californians.

“I think it’s important to prioritize and focus on the issues that really matter,” Wahab told The Epoch Times. “This is one of the ways that we can best represent our districts.”

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said the change was needed to help lawmakers prioritize solutions to issues impacting Californians.

“Everyone in this room has good and important ideas but our time and energy here are limited,” Rivas said on the Assembly floor while announcing the lower limits. “[W]e want every leader in this room to have the greatest possible bandwidth to focus on laws that uplift affordability and prosperity.”

He said some Californians are concerned that lawmakers are failing to consider the plight of all individuals when crafting policies. He called on colleagues to urgently change course.

Some Golden State residents are negatively impacted by the cost of housing and energy, he said.

“California will always be America’s destination for dreams and opportunities,” Rivas said. “But we need to consider every bill through the lens of Californians who are anxious about affordability.”

Bringing relief to working-class residents is a key priority for the Legislature this session, according to representatives.

Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria said fewer bills will be beneficial and allow for more thought and discussion throughout the legislative process.

“I am so excited about that change,” she told The Epoch Times. “I’m a big believer in quality over quantity.”

From energy to housing, some Golden State residents are struggling to make ends meet, according to the second-term representative from the Central Valley.

“We have some very big, pressing issues,” Soria said.

More than 100 bills are already in print for the new year, including Soria’s Assembly Bill 36, which aims to help small cities with populations under 100,000 compete for housing grants.

Other newly announced bills address issues such as reparations, human trafficking, and education.

More pieces of legislation will be published in the coming months until the Feb. 21, 2025, deadline.

About 30 percent of assembly members introduced the maximum number of bills in the last session, and the average number authored per member was slightly less than 40.

In the other chamber, almost half of the senators maxed out their legislative offerings, with an average of 35 bills introduced by each member.

Some lawmakers authored more than they are technically allowed, as exceptions are granted for budget bills and waivers requested and approved by leaders.

Fewer than half of all bills introduced were passed by the Legislature and sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who vetoed less than 20 percent of the bills he received this year, which is an increase of about 3 percent from 2023.

The number of bills allowed has changed three times in the 21st century. It was reduced from 40 to 30 in the Assembly in 2002 and then increased to 50 in 2017.