California State Assembly

California State Assembly
General Information
Type:	Lower house
Term limits:	3 terms (6 years)
2012 session start:	January 4, 2012
Website:	Official House Page
Leadership
House Speaker:	John Perez, (D)
Majority Leader:	Charles Calderon, (D)
Minority leader:	Connie Conway, (R)
Structure
Members:	80
	Democratic Party (52) Republican Party (28)
Length of term:	2 years
Authority:	Art IV, California Constitution
Salary:	$95,291/year + per diem
Elections
Last Election:	November 2, 2010 (80 seats)
Next election:	November 6, 2012 (80 seats)
Redistricting:	California Citizens Redistricting Commission

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. Each member represents an average of 465,674 residents, as of the 2010 Census. After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 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. California is the only state with state legislative districts more populous than its U.S. House districts.

Since the passage of Prop 140 in 1990, members of the Assembly are limited by term limits to a maximum of three two-year terms (six years).

In 2012, the Assembly is in session from January 4 to August 31.

Sessions

Article IV of the California Constitution establishes when the California State Legislature, of which the Assembly is a part, is to be in session. Section 3 of Article IV states that the Legislature is to convene in regular session on the first Monday of December in each even-numbered year to organize. The Legislature must adjourn by November 30th of the following even-numbered year.

Section 3 also gives the Governor of California the power to call special sessions of the Legislature.

2012

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

In 2012, the Assembly is in session from January 4 to August 31.

Major issues

Legislators will be looking for ways to close a $12 billion budget deficit while dealing with issues including changes to public employee pensions and deciding whether the state should regulate healthcare insurance rates.

2011

See also: Dates of 2011 state legislative sessions

In 2011, the Assembly will be in session from January 3- September 9, 2011. The California Legislature was convened in an extraordinary session to act upon legislation that addresses the fiscal emergency proclaimed by Governor Jerry Brown on January 20, 2011.

2010

See also: Dates of 2010 state legislative sessions

In 2010, the Assembly began its regular session on January 12th, and this session is scheduled to adjourn on August 31st. Additionally, the Assembly adjourned one special session on January 11th of this year, had one ongoing special session that convened in October of 2009, and had another ongoing special session that convened on January 8th, 2010.

Elections

2012

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2012

Elections for the office of California State Assembly will be held in California on November 6, 2012. All 80 seats will be up for election.

The signature filing deadline for candidates was March 9, 2012.

California state assembly members are subject to term limits, and may not serve more than three two-year terms. In 2012, 21 state representatives will be termed-out of office.

2010

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2010

Elections for the office of California State Representative were held in California on November 2, 2010. State assembly seats in all districts were on the ballot in 2010.

The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was February 25, 2010, and the primary election day was June 8, 2010.

In the 2010 elections, the candidates running for the Assembly raised a total of $77,405,341 in campaign funds. Their top 10 contributors were:

Donor	Amount
California Democratic Party	$6,711,171
California Republican Party	$1,759,884
Sacramento County Democratic Central Cmte	$612,026
California Association of Realtors	$585,754
California Teachers Association	$580,141
Los Angeles County Democratic Party	$556,653
AT&T	$519,778
California Dental Association	$499,849
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians	$442,300
California State Council of Laborers	$424,500

Qualifications

To run for Member of the Assembly, the candidate must be a United States citizen and a registered voter in the district at the time nomination papers are issued and may not have served three terms in the State Assembly since November 6, 1990. According to Article IV of the California Constitution, the candidate must have one year of residency in the legislative district and California residency for three years.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

How Vacancies are filled in State Legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Assembly, the Governor must call for a special election. The election must be called by the Governor within fourteen days of the vacancy. No special election can be held if the vacancy happened in an election year and the nominating deadline passed.

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in California

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission -- made up of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four independents -- is responsible for redistricting.

2010 census

California received its local census data on March 7, 2011. The fastest growing counties were Riverside (41.7 percent), Placer (40.3 percent) and Kern (26.9 percent) -- all inland locations.

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission approved maps on August 15, 2011. The final votes were 13-1 on the Senate and Assembly maps and 12-2 on the Congressional map. Republican Michael Ward voted no to both maps while Jodie Filkins Webber joined Ward in dissenting on the Congressional map. A referendum to overturn the Senate map was initiated in August 2011.

Representatives

Partisan composition

See also: Partisan composition of state houses

Party		As of October 2012
	Democratic Party	52
	Republican Party	28
Total		80

Leadership

The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full Assembly on passage of a floor vote. Other Assembly leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.

Current leadership

Position	Representative	Party
Speaker of the Assembly	John Perez	Democratic
State Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore	Fiona Ma	Democratic
State Assembly Majority Floor Leader	Charles Calderon	Democratic
State Assembly Assistant Majority Floor Leader	Michael Allen	Democratic
State Assembly Majority Whip	Toni Atkins	Democratic
State Assembly Assistant Majority Whip	Roger Hernandez	Democratic
State Assembly Minority Leader	Connie Conway	Republican

2010 Leadership

Position	Representative	Party
Speaker of the Assembly	John Perez	Democratic
State Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore	Lori Saldana	Democratic
State Assembly Majority Floor Leader	Alberto Torrico	Democratic
State Assembly Assistant Majority Floor Leader	Vacant	Democratic
State Assembly Majority Whip	Fiona Ma	Democratic
State Assembly Assistant Majority Whip	Martin Block	Democratic
State Assembly Minority Leader	Martin Garrick	Republican

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

As of 2012, members of the California legislature are paid $95,290.56 per year. They are also given per diem of $141.86 per day in session.

The $95,290.56 that California legislators are paid as of 2011 is a decrease from the $113,098/year that they were paid during legislative sessions in 2007. The per diem however has increased from 2007 levels of $162 per day.

Pension

California does not provide pensions for legislators who took office after 1990.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

California legislators assume office one month after election (December).

Current members

District	Representative	Party	Notes
1	Wesley Chesbro	Democrat
2	Jim Nielsen	Republican
3	Dan Logue	Republican
4	Beth Gaines	Republican	Elected 5/3/2011
5	Richard Pan	Democrat
6	Jared Huffman	Democrat
7	Michael Allen	Democrat
8	Mariko Yamada	Democrat
9	Roger Dickinson	Democrat
10	Alyson Huber	Democrat
11	Susan Bonilla	Democrat
12	Fiona Ma	Democrat
13	Tom Ammiano	Democrat
14	Nancy Skinner	Democrat
15	Joan Buchanan	Democrat
16	Sandré Swanson	Democrat
17	Cathleen Galgiani	Democrat
18	Mary Hayashi	Democrat
19	Jerry Hill	Democrat
20	Bob Wieckowski	Democrat
21	Rich Gordon	Democrat
22	Paul Fong	Democrat
23	Nora Campos	Democrat
24	James Beall Jr.	Democrat
25	Kristin Olsen	Republican
26	Bill Berryhill	Republican
27	Bill Monning	Democrat
28	Luis Alejo	Democrat
29	Linda Halderman	Republican
30	David G. Valadao	Republican
31	Henry T. Perea	Democrat
32	Shannon Grove	Republican
33	K.H. Achadjian	Republican
34	Connie Conway	Republican
35	Das Williams	Democrat
36	Steve Knight	Republican
37	Jeff Gorell	Republican
38	Cameron Smyth	Republican
39	Felipe Fuentes	Democrat
40	Bob Blumenfield	Democrat
41	Julia Brownley	Democrat
42	Mike Feuer	Democrat
43	Mike Gatto	Democrat
44	Anthony Portantino, Jr.	Democrat
45	Gilbert Cedillo	Democrat
46	John Perez	Democrat
47	Holly J. Mitchell	Democrat
48	Mike Davis	Democrat
49	Mike Eng	Democrat
50	Ricardo Lara	Democrat
51	Steve Bradford	Democrat
52	Isadore Hall	Democrat
53	Betsy Butler	Democrat
54	Bonnie Lowenthal	Democrat
55	Warren T. Furutani	Democrat
56	Tony Mendoza	Democrat
57	Roger Hernandez	Democrat
58	Charles Calderon	Democrat
59	Tim Donnelly	Republican
60	Curt Hagman	Republican
61	Norma Torres	Democrat
62	Wilmer Amina Carter	Democrat
63	Mike Morrell	Republican
64	Brian Nestande	Republican
65	Paul Cook	Republican
66	Kevin Jeffries	Republican
67	Jim Silva	Republican
68	Allan R. Mansoor	Republican
69	Jose Solorio	Democrat
70	Donald P. Wagner	Republican
71	Jeff Miller	Republican
72	Chris Norby	Republican
73	Diane Harkey	Republican
74	Martin Garrick	Republican
75	Nathan Fletcher	Republican
76	Toni Atkins	Democrat
77	Brian Jones	Republican
78	Martin Block	Democrat
79	Ben Hueso	Democrat
80	Manuel Perez	Democrat

2008-2010 Members

Partisan composition of the 2009-2010 assembly

District	Representative	Party	Notes
1	Wesley Chesbro	Democrat
2	Jim Nielsen	Republican
3	Dan Logue	Republican
4	Ted Gaines	Republican
5	Roger Niello	Republican
6	Jared Huffman	Democrat
7	Noreen Evans	Democrat
8	Mariko Yamada	Democrat
9	Dave Jones	Democrat
10	Alyson Huber	Democrat
11	Tom Torlakson	Democrat
12	Fiona Ma	Democrat
13	Tom Ammiano	Democrat
14	Nancy Skinner	Democrat
15	Joan Buchanan	Democrat
16	Sandré Swanson	Democrat
17	Cathleen Galgiani	Democrat
18	Mary Hayashi	Democrat
19	Jerry Hill	Democrat
20	Alberto Torrico	Democrat
21	Ira Ruskin	Democrat
22	Paul Fong	Democrat
23	Joe Coto	Democrat
24	James Beall Jr.	Democrat
25	Tom Berryhill	Republican
26	Bill Berryhill	Republican
27	Bill Monning	Democrat
28	Anna Caballero	Democrat
29	Michael Villines	Republican
30	Danny Gilmore	Republican
31	Juan Arambula	Independent
32	Jean Fuller	Republican
33	Vacant
34	Connie Conway	Republican
35	Pedro Nava	Democrat
36	Steve Knight	Republican
37	Audra Strickland	Republican
38	Cameron Smyth	Republican
39	Felipe Fuentes	Democrat
40	Bob Blumenfield	Democrat
41	Julia Brownley	Democrat
42	Mike Feuer	Democrat
43	Mike Gatto	Democrat
44	Anthony Portantino, Jr.	Democrat
45	Kevin de Leon	Democrat
46	John Perez	Democrat
47	Karen Bass	Democrat
48	Mike Davis	Democrat
49	Mike Eng	Democrat
50	Hector De La Torre	Democrat
51	Steve Bradford	Democrat
52	Isadore Hall	Democrat
53	Ted Lieu	Democrat
54	Bonnie Lowenthal	Democrat
55	Warren T. Furutani	Democrat
56	Tony Mendoza	Democrat
57	Edward Hernandez	Democrat
58	Charles Calderon	Democrat
59	Anthony Adams	Republican
60	Curt Hagman	Republican
61	Norma Torres	Democrat
62	Wilmer Amina Carter	Democrat
63	Vacant
64	Brian Nestande	Republican
65	Paul Cook	Republican
66	Kevin Jeffries	Republican
67	Jim Silva	Republican
68	Van Tran	Republican
69	Jose Solorio	Democrat
70	Chuck DeVore	Republican
71	Jeff Miller	Republican
72	Chris Norby	Republican
73	Diane Harkey	Republican
74	Martin Garrick	Republican
75	Nathan Fletcher	Republican
76	Lori Saldana	Democrat
77	Joel Anderson	Republican
78	Martin Block	Democrat
79	Mary Salas	Democrat
80	Manuel Perez	Democrat

Standing committees

California Assembly has 30 standing committees:

• Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, California General Assembly
• Aging And Long-Term Care Committee, California General Assembly
• Agriculture Committee, California General Assembly
• Appropriations Committee, California General Assembly
• Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee, California General Assembly
• Banking and Finance Committee, California General Assembly
• Budget Committee, California General Assembly
• Business and Professions Committee, California General Assembly
• Education Committee, California General Assembly
• Elections and Redistricting Committee, California General Assembly
• Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, California General Assembly
• Governmental Organization Committee, California General Assembly
• Health Committee, California General Assembly
• Higher Education Committee, California General Assembly
• Housing and Community Development Committee, California General Assembly
• Human Services Committee, California General Assembly
• Insurance Committee, California General Assembly
• Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Committee, California General Assembly
• Judiciary Committee, California General Assembly
• Labor and Employment Committee, California General Assembly
• Local Government Committee, California General Assembly
• Natural Resources Committee, California General Assembly
• Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee, California General Assembly
• Public Safety Committee, California General Assembly
• Revenue and Taxation Committee, California General Assembly
• Rules Committee, California General Assembly
• Transportation Committee, California General Assembly
• Utilities and Commerce Committee, California General Assembly
• Veterans Affairs Committee, California General Assembly
• Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, California General Assembly

Legislative budgets

Each member of the California State Assembly is given an annual budget of about $290,000 with which to hire staff and run their office. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said on May 11, 2009 that she planned to cut this amount by about 10%, or $29,000 per year per each of the 80 members of the Assembly).

Open Records push:

On August 1, 2011, the California State Assembly stated that the public has no right to know the individual budgets of assembly members. This came about after Assemblyman Anthony Portantino raised an issue stating that his budget was cut after casting the only Democratic vote against the recently passed controversial budget. As a result, he and several media outlets requested that the budget information be made public so that the people could see if members were being punished or rewarded for voting a certain way. The Assembly Rules Committee claimed that such documents are exempt from the Legislative Open Records Act.

Office in Washington, DC

The California State Assembly maintains an office in Washington, DC. In the face of the state's budget woes, the Assembly plans to close that office on June 30, 2009.

External links

Wikipedia has an article on:

California State Assembly

• Official website of the California State Assembly
• Official list of current members of the California State Assembly
• Project Vote Smart on the California State Assembly
• California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present)
• Map of Assembly Districts
• Assembly Republican Caucus
• Assembly Democrat Caucus