California State Legislature

38°34′36″N 121°29′36″W / 38.576572°N 121.493411°W / 38.576572; -121.493411

The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

The California State Legislature is one of ten full-time state legislatures in the United States. The houses are distinguished by the colors of the carpet and trim of each house: the Senate uses red and the Assembly uses green, inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords and House of Commons respectively.

The Democratic Party currently holds veto-proof supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature. The Assembly consists of 60 Democrats and 20 Republicans, while the Senate is composed of 30 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Except for a brief period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election. The Senate has been under Democratic control since 1975.

In 1822, Alta California formed its first legislative body, the Diputación de Alta California, a body of seven members (vocales), each representing one of the four presidio military districts or the three civilian pueblos.

Article IV of the 1849 California Constitution prescribed that the legislative power of the state is invested in an Assembly and a Senate which was to be designated as the Legislature of the State of California. Sessions were required to be annual and began on the first Monday of the January after the previous election unless if the Governor called an extraordinary session by proclamation. The terms of Assembly members lasted for one year while the terms of Senators lasted for two years. The 1849 Constitution did not prescribe the size of either house, but it did require that the Senate was to be composed of no less than one third but no more than one half of the number of members in the Assembly, with half of the Senators being up for election each year while requiring the legislature to fix the number of Senators and Assemblymembers, with there to be no less than 24 and no more than 36 members in the Assembly until the population of the state reached 100,000 residents, upon which the number of members in the Assembly was to be no less than 36 and no more than 80. Legislative districts were to be apportioned among the "several counties and districts" according to the white population of said areas. Section 25 imposed a single-subject rule on legislative bills, Section 26 prohibited the legislature from granting a divorce, Section 31 prohibited the legislature from establishing a corporation with a special act (similar to a private bill), Section 34 prohibited the legislature from granting a charter "for banking purposes" while Section 35 required the legislature to enact a statute which prohibited any person or corporation from "..exercising the privileges of banking or creating paper to circulate as money", and Section 38 required all votes in the legislature to be conducted via voice vote.

In its original form, Article IV of the 1879 California Constitution structured the legislature in a similar way to the 1849 Constitution. However, the 1879 Constitution explicitly stated that the Senate has 40 members and that the Assembly has 80 members. The constitution also explicitly provides that Senators terms are four years and the terms of members of the Assembly are two years.

New legislators convene each new two-year session, to organize, in the Assembly and Senate chambers, respectively, at noon on the first Monday in December following the election.