Assembly Bill Total This Year Is Much Smaller Than Past Years

As of March 21, the 80-member Assembly has introduced 1,415 pieces of legislation.

Many are placeholders that state the “intent” to change state law in some way or offer “technical, nonsubstantive changes” to existing law.

By any measure, this seems like scads of legislation, particularly for the first year of a two-year legislative session.

It isn’t – at least compared to past performance.

For each of the past 20 years, the Assembly has introduced several hundre4d more bills.

During the first year of the 1991, 1992 legislative session, for example, 2,450 bills were introduced.

For the session ending in 2010, the 2009 total was 1,764. Another 1,343 were introduced in 2010 for a two-year total of 3,107.

The two year total for the 2003, 2004 legislative session was 3,592 – 2,035 the first year.

The two-tear total during the 1973, 1974 legislative session hit 5,283.

Leo T. McCarthy was elected speaker in June 1974. Jerry Brown was elected governor in November.

Every year for the past decade, the Assembly’s two-year totals have seen a low of 3,107 and a high in the 2003, 2004 session of 3,592.

The lowest first year total –except for the current session – was 1,764, set during the previous session.

Bill introductions in the first year of the 2003, 2004 session were also a record since 2000.

(Editor’s Note: February 18 was the deadline for lawmakers to intorduce bills. Committee bills do not have the same deadline, which is why there are now 1,415 measures in the Assembly’s hopper.)

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