California State Legislature, 2023–24 session
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
| 2023–2024 session of the California State Legislature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | California State Legislature | ||||
| Jurisdiction | California | ||||
| Term | December 5, 2022 – November 30, 2024 | ||||
| Senate | |||||
| Members | 40 | ||||
| President of the Senate | Eleni Kounalakis (D) Jan. 7, 2019 – present | ||||
| President pro tempore |
| ||||
| Minority Leader | Brian Jones (R–16th) Dec. 5, 2022 – present | ||||
| Party control | Democratic | ||||
| Assembly | |||||
| Members | 80 | ||||
| Speaker |
| ||||
| Minority Leader | James Gallagher (R–3rd) Feb. 8, 2022 – present | ||||
| Party control | Democratic | ||||
The 2023–2024 session is the most recent former session of the California State Legislature. The session first convened on December 7, 2022, and ended on November 30, 2024.[1]
Major events
[edit]Vacancies and special elections
[edit]- May 24, 2024: Republican assemblymember Vince Fong (32nd–Bakersfield) resigns to become the U.S. Representative for California's 20th congressional district.
Leadership changes
[edit]- June 30, 2023: Democratic assemblymember Robert A. Rivas (29th–Hollister) replaces assemblymember Anthony Rendon (62nd–Lakewood) as speaker of the Assembly, as Rendon is termed out at the end of the session.[2]
- February 5, 2024:
- Democratic senator Mike McGuire (2nd–Healdsburg) replaces senator Toni Atkins (39th–San Diego) as president pro tempore of the Senate.
- Democratic senator Lena Gonzalez (33rd–Long Beach) replaces senator McGuire as Senate majority leader.
Party changes
[edit]- August 8, 2024: Democratic senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (4th-Jackson) switches to the Republican Party.
Legislation
[edit]Notable topics discussed by legislators included local journalism support (California Journalism Preservation Act)[3] and regulation of AI (Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act).[4]
The following bills were signed or vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023 or 2024.[5]
Signed
[edit]- SB4 - streamlines affordable housing on lands owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education
- AB418 - California Food Safety Act, prohibits red dye 3, propylparaben, brominated vegetable oil and potassium bromate from all foods meant for human consumption
- SB261 - requires large companies to biennially report their financial risks from climate change
- SB253 - U.S. corporations earning more than $1 billion and doing business in California must annually report their global emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming greenhouse gases
- SB385 - allow trained physician assistants to conduct surgical abortions without direct supervision by a physician
- SB487 - prohibit health insurers and the state from penalizing medical providers who have been sanctioned in other states for performing procedures that are otherwise legal in California, including abortion and gender-affirming care
- AB1228 - raises the minimum wage for workers to $20 an hour next April, and creates a Fast Food Council composed of industry, worker, and government representatives to set minimum wage, safety, and employment and training standards for workers in large fast food chains and their franchises
- AB969 - would limit the use of hand counting of ballots in most elections
- SB616 - increases the number of paid sick days employers must provide to workers from three to five
- AB1373 - would authorize the state Department of Water Resources the authority to procure clean power when needed under the state Public Utilities Commission, particularly from offshore wind, geothermal and long duration storage
- AB1 - would allow state legislative staff to unionize beginning in 2026
- SB497 - would require state courts and the state Labor Commission to assume employers are illegally retaliating if they take certain disciplinary actions against a worker who in the prior 90 days has made a wage claim or a complaint about unequal pay.
- AB12 - limits the amount that landlords can require in security deposits to one month’s rent, rather than the previous two months’ rent
- AB1418 - would prohibit counties and cities from requiring landlords to evict people when a household member is a convicted felon
- SB389 - authorize the State Water Board to investigate and seek verification of all water rights claims regarding California's water bodies, no matter how old
- SB43 - expands the legal definition of “gravely disabled” to make it easier to place someone into involuntary treatment
Vetoed
[edit]- AB957 - would require judges to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in custody disputes
- SB403 - would add caste as a form of prohibited ancestry discrimination
- SB799 - workers who have been on strike for at least two weeks could receive funds
- AB469 - would create a state-funded, governor-appointed ombudsperson’s office to review state agencies’ denials of public records requests
- SB58 - would decriminalize certain psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin and psilocin, mescaline (except peyote) and DMT
State Senate
[edit]| ↓ | ||
| 32 | 8 | |
| Democratic | Republican | |
Officers
[edit]| Position | Name | Party | District | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant Governor | Eleni Kounalakis | Democratic | ||
| President pro tempore | Mike McGuire | Democratic | 2nd–Healdsburg | |
| Majority leader | Lena Gonzalez | Democratic | 33rd-Long Beach | |
| Assistant majority leader | Angelique Ashby | Democratic | 8th-Sacramento | |
| Aisha Wahab | Democratic | 10th-Hayward | ||
| Democratic Caucus Chair | Monique Limón | Democratic | 19th–Santa Barbara | |
| Majority whip | Dave Cortese | Democratic | 15th–Los Gatos | |
| Assistant majority whips | Maria Elena Durazo | Democratic | 24th–Los Angeles | |
| Steve Padilla | Democratic | 18th–Chula Vista | ||
| Minority leader | Brian Jones | Republican | 40th–Santee | |
| Secretary | Erika Contreras | |||
| Sergeant-at-Arms | Katrina Rodriguez | |||
| Chaplain | Sister Michelle Gorman, RSM | |||
The Secretary, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the chaplain are not members of the Legislature.
Members
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Koseff, Alexei; Kamal, Sameea (5 January 2023). "The California Legislature is back: Five key questions". CalMatters. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ Beam, Adam (June 28, 2023). "California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is stepping down. He's not happy about how it happened". Associated Press. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ "Deal reached in feud between California news outlets and Google: $250 million to support journalism but no new law", latimes.com, 2024-08-21
- ^ "Hollywood A-listers are joining the fight over a California AI bill", Washington Post, 2024-09-25
- ^ CalMatters (2023-09-11). "Which bills did Gavin Newsom sign into new California laws?". CalMatters. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
External links
[edit]Members of the California State Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
2025–26 Session
| ||
|  | |
