Sacramento 101
How A Bill Becomes
Law
VOTING ON BILLS
After introduction, a bill will be sent to a committee which
specializes in the subject of the bill. The most effective
actions at this time are focused on gaining support or
building opposition among the members of this committee.
Asking members NOT on the committee to vote for/against
it is premature, as most legislators will not vote on the bill
until it is voting on my the whole legislative body.
You can find information about California state committee
membership, and office contacts at www.legislature.ca.gov.
Calls and letters should be directed to the committee
members capitol offices before the scheduled hearing. You
can also submit letters to the committee itself at least a
week ahead of time through the Position Letter Portal here:
calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/
If a bill gets approved by the committee, it could be assigned
to another committee before it is voted on by the entire
legislative body, the Senate or the House (Assembly). In the
California legislature, once a bill makes it through one
legislative house it will have to go to the other legislative
house and the process will start over.
You can keep track of a bill’s progress at this website:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Once a bill has been approved by
both houses or legislative bodies the bill will go to the
Governor for approval or be vetoed. A similar process
happens at a federal level.