1. Background
   1. Structure of California's bicameral Legislature:
      1. State Assembly
         1. 80 Members
         2. Two year terms
         3. Speaker Karen Bass (D, Los Angeles)
         4. Find your Assembly Member
      2. State Senate
         1. 40 senators
         2. Four year terms
         3. President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D, Oakland)
         4. Find your State Senator
2. History
   1. Legislature of a thousand drinks
      1. Until 20th century, state legislature was part-time, amateurish, understaffed, unprofessional, and corrupt
         1. Southern Pacific Railroad and cronies controlled state and local government alike
         2. Low pay, restricted terms, at first 1 year for Assembly and 2 for Senate
         3. actual control by the railroad left legislature with little real power and prestige
      2. The constitution restricted the time the legislature could meet
         1. General Sessions (odd years)--120 days
         2. Budget Sessions (even years)--30 days
   2. Progressive Reforms
      1. The California Progressives crippled power of railroad and political parties without really strengthening the state legislature
      2. Legislature was taken over by corrupt lobbyists, like
      3. Artie Samish
   3. Federal Plan (1926)
      1. California population
      2. No county with more than 1 Senator
      3. no Senator represented more than 3 counties
         1. The state's smallest northern counties, representing less than 10 percent of the state's population, controlled 21 Senate seats
         2. Southern California, by contrast, had 35 percent of the state population and only one Senate seat in Sacramento
   4. Reynolds v. Sims (1962)
      1. U.S. Supreme Court forces reapportionment of State Senate along population lines, which deprived sparsely populated northern counties of their control of the body

      State Senate	Federal Plan	1965 Reap- portionment
      Northern California	23 votes	8 votes
      Los Angeles County	1 vote	14 1/3 votes

   5. Prop 1A (1966)
      1. State Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh leads legislative reform effort
      2. Main Reforms:
         1. The state legislator became a full time body
         2. Salaries increased from $6,000 to $16,000 (today it is $99,000, with allowances and per diems equal to nearly $30,000)
      3. Unruh also convinced the legislature to hire full-time professional staff:
         1. Legislative Analyst
         2. Legislative Counsel
         3. Auditor General
   6. Prop 140 (1990)
      1. Peter F. Schabarum, a 20-year County Supervisor for First Supervisorial District in Los Angeles Country, led initiative campaign
      2. Main reforms:
         1. "Limits" statewide offices and state senators to two terms; Assembly limited to three terms
         2. Prohibits legislative officials from earning regular state pensions for service after 1990
         3. Reduces legislative expenditures on salaries and operating costs (38 percent cut)
      3. Results: Lobbyists Get A Larger Role In Legislature
   7. Schwarzenegger Proposal
3. Recommendations of State Constitutional Revision Commission
   1. Shorten Legislative Sessions
      1. The Constitution should limit the length of legislative sessions to six months, extend the time for the Governor to act on legislation, and allow the Legislature to consider - but not pass - measures shortly after introduction.
   2. Term Limits
      1. The Commission recommends that term limits be retained but extended to three, four-year terms in each house. The terms would be staggered so that one-half of the Assembly and the Senate would be elected every two years.
      2. The Commission concluded that the current length of terms of legislators has inhibited the legislative branch from fully undertaking its constitutional duty to make laws. Currently, Assembly members have three, two-year terms and Senators have two, four-year terms
   3. Increased Oversight Authority
      1. The Constitution should provide additional authority for the Legislature to review and disapprove administrative regulations.
   4. Tie Budget Passage to Salaries
      1. The Constitution should require the budget to be passed by the June 30 constitutional deadline or the Governor and the Legislature forfeit their pay.
   5. Provide Retirement Benefits
      1. The Constitution should allow legislators to participate in the regular Public Employees Retirement System.