California State Legislature
From Ballotpedia
Contents |
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members.
Both chambers of the California legislature have been dominated by the Democratic Party since 1970 except from 1995 to 1996, when the Republican Party briefly held a majority in the lower chamber.
Current balance-of-power
State assembly
| Affiliation | Members | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 51 | |
| Republican Party | 29 | |
| Total | 80 | |
State senate
| Affiliation | Members | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 24 | |
| Republican Party | 15 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | |
| Total | 40 | |
Terms and term limits
California voters imposed strict term limits on the California Legislature in 1990, when they voted in favor of Proposition 140 by a margin of 52-48%. Proposition 140 limits state Assembly members to three two-year terms and state senators to two four-year terms, and imposes a lifelong ban against seeking the same office once the limits have been reached.
Bates v. Jones
In the case of Bates v. Jones, Bates--a termed-out Assemblyman--sued in federal court to have the provisions of Prop. 140 declared unconstitutional. A federal court agreed with his claim, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against him, keeping the limits in place.
Proposition 45 in 2002
California State Senate president pro tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) vigorously sponsored an effort in 2002 to rollback the provisions of 1990's Prop. 140 by putting Proposition 45 on the March 2002 ballot. Voters rejected Prop. 45 by a margin of 42-58%. Had Proposition 45 passed, it would have allowed state legislators to serve for four years beyond the limits allowed by Prop. 140.
Proposition 93 in 2008
Proposition 93, an initiated constitutional amendment supported by Don Perata was defeated 53.6% to 46.4% during the February 5, 2008 statewide primary election. Had it passed, members of the California State Legislature would have been allowed to remain in their current office up to 12 years.
Senate
- Main article: California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate. The officers of the Senate, elected at the start of each legislative session, are; President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Secretary of the Senate Gregory Schmidt, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Tony Beard.
Prior to 1968, state senate districts were restricted such that one county could only hold at most one seat. This led to the situation of Los Angeles County, with 6 million residents as of 1968, receiving 600 times less representation than residents of Alpine County and Calaveras County, some of California's least populous counties. The Reynolds v. Sims decision by the United States Supreme Court compelled all states to draw up districts that were apportioned by population rather than geography. As such, boundaries were changed such that equal representation was provided.
Senators serve four year terms. The terms of the Senators are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. The Senators representing the odd-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four. The Senators from the even-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years.
Since the passage of Prop 140 in 1990, California senators have been limited to two terms in office.
Each Senator represents approximately 846,791 Californians, which is more than the approximately 639,088 residents in each of California's Congressional Districts.
The current make-up is 24 Democrats, 15 Republicans and one vacancy.
State Assembly
- Main article: California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members to the Assembly, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies, with each district having a population of at least 420,000 citizens. Due to the state's large population and relatively small legislature, the Assembly has the largest population per representative ratio of any lower house legislature in the United States; only the federal U.S. House of Representatives has a larger ratio.
Ballot referrals
The California State Legislature has the authority to refer statewide ballot propositions to the ballot; these can be:
- Constitutional amendments to the California Constitution.
- Legislatively-referred state statutes, including bond issues.
| Year | Referred amendments | Referred statutes |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 6 | 3 |
External links
- California State Legislature website.
- Project Vote Smart profile of California Senate
- Project Vote Smart's profile of the California State Assembly
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||
