Lawmakers are navigating the final six days of the California Legislature’s 2023–2024 session with committee hearings and daily meetings on the Assembly and Senate floor to decide the fate of 901 bills—342 pending in the Assembly and 559 in the Senate.
To meet the deadline, legislators need to debate and vote on an average of 150 bills each day.
He said lawmakers are focused on delivering “meaningful results for hardworking folks in every corner of [California].”
While state laws prohibit committee hearings during the last two weeks of the session, exceptions are granted if the Legislature waives the rules for bills that have been amended late in the process and require review.
On Aug. 26, the Senate’s Budget Committee is weighing 12 trailer bills to amend the state’s budget, while the Education Committee considers bills related to truancy and a four-day school week at one district. The Judiciary Committee is debating a bill that would regulate the amount of time in which a restitution or replacement claim can be filed by consumers to replace motor vehicles under warranty.
On Tuesday, the Senate’s Labor Committee will hear a bill related to newspaper carriers and distributors and whether they should be categorized as independent contractors or employees, and another that would exempt construction industry employees from the Private Attorney General Act, which allows employees to file lawsuits against their employer for labor code violations.
The Local Government Committee will contemplate a bill that would exempt hydrogen refueling and electric vehicle charging stations from certain state regulations set forth in the Subdivision Map Act.
In the Assembly, four committees—including the Banking, Business and Professions, Health, and Public Employment and Retirement—will meet to hear a variety of proposals in the last of such hearings in the session.
Wednesday marks the final day to amend bills, as dictated by the state’s 72-hour rule that requires all bills be published in their final form at least three days before votes are taken by the Senate and Assembly bodies. Exceptions are allowed if the governor declares a state of emergency, but no such situation exists this year.
Thursday is the last day for bills to be revived by removing them from the inactive file—which include bills that were sidelined earlier in the session.
Friday will see a frenzy of activity, as both chambers seek to vote on as many bills as possible to limit the amount of work needed on the last day of the session.
Saturday is the final day for each house to pass bills, as per state law, and the final recess of the session will start upon adjournment of the Legislature.
With the clock ticking, stakeholders are pushing Californians to contact their respective lawmakers to request action on a number of bills.
For the bills that are ultimately approved by lawmakers, Gov. Gavin Newsom will have until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the measures.
As California’s legislative sessions span two years, deadlines vary based on even and odd years, with this session ending earlier to give lawmakers time to prepare for November elections.
Over the 2023–2024 session, lawmakers introduced 4,821 bills—including 3,291 in the Assembly and 1,530 in the Senate. It remains to be seen how many will become law.
