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California State Assembly
Lower house of the California State Legislature From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
Neither house has been expanded since the ratification of the 1879 Constitution,[1] and each of the 80 members represent at least 490,000 people, more than any other state lower house.[2]
Members of the California State Assembly are generally referred to using the titles Assemblyman, Assemblywoman, or Assemblymember. In the current legislative session, Democrats have a three-fourths supermajority of 60 seats, while Republicans control a minority of 19 seats.
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Leadership
The speaker presides over the State Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The speaker is nominated by the caucus of the majority party and elected by the full Assembly. Other leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.
The current speaker is Democrat Robert Rivas (29th–Hollister). The majority leader is Democrat Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (4th–Winters), while the minority leader is Republican James Gallagher (3rd–Yuba City).[3]
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Terms of office
Members are allowed, by current term limits, to serve 12 years in the legislature in any combination of four-year State Senate or two-year State Assembly terms. However, members elected to the Legislature prior to 2012 are restricted to three two-year terms (six years). Few, if any, legislators remain from this era, though the restriction could affect future candidates running after a hiatus from office.
Every two years, all 80 seats in the Assembly are subject to election. This is in contrast to the State Senate, in which only half of its 40 seats are subject to election every two years.
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Meeting chamber
The chamber's green tones are based on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The dais rests along a wall shaped like an "E", with its central projection housing the rostrum. Along the cornice appears a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and a Latin quotation: legislatorum est justas leges condere ("It is the duty of legislators to pass just laws"). Almost every decorating element is identical to the Senate Chamber.
Candidate qualifications
To run for the Assembly, a candidate must be a United States citizen and a registered voter in the district at the time nomination papers are issued, and meet the criteria of the term limits described above. According to Article 4, Section 2(c) of the California Constitution, the candidate must have one year of residency in the legislative district and California residency for three years.[4]
Employees
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The chief clerk of the Assembly, a position that has existed since the Assembly's creation, is responsible for many administrative duties. The chief clerk is the custodian of all Assembly bills and records and publishes the Assembly Daily Journal, the minutes of floor sessions, as well as the Assembly Daily File, the Assembly agenda. The chief clerk is the Assembly's parliamentarian, and in this capacity gives advice to the presiding officer on matters of parliamentary procedure. The chief clerk is also responsible for engrossing and enrolling of measures, and the transmission of legislation to the governor.[5]
The Assembly also employs the position of chaplain, a position that has existed in both houses since the first legislative session back in 1850. Currently, the chaplain of the Assembly is Imam Mohammad Yasir Khan, the first chaplain historically that practices Islam.
The position of sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly has existed since 1849; Samuel N. Houston was the first to hold this post, overseeing one deputy. The sergeant-at-arms is mostly tasked with law enforcement duties, but customarily also has a ceremonial and protocol role. Today, some fifty employees are part of the Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms Office.[6]
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Current session
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Composition
| ↓ | |
| 60 | 19 |
| Democratic | Republican |
Past composition of the Assembly
Officers
The Chief Clerk, the Chief Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplains are not members of the Legislature.
List of current representatives
- † elected in a special election
Seating chart
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Standing committees
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Current committees, chairs and vice chairs include:[8]
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Recent sessions
- California State Legislature, 1997–1998 session
- California State Legislature, 1999–2000 session
- California State Legislature, 2001–2002 session
- California State Legislature, 2003–2004 session
- California State Legislature, 2005–2006 session
- California State Legislature, 2007–2008 session
- California State Legislature, 2009–2010 session
- California State Legislature, 2011–2012 session
- California State Legislature, 2013–2014 session
- California State Legislature, 2015–2016 session
- California State Legislature, 2017–2018 session
- California State Legislature, 2019–2020 session
- California State Legislature, 2021–2022 session
- California State Legislature, 2023–2024 session
- California State Legislature, 2025–2026 session
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See also
- Impeachment in California
- Bill (proposed law)
- California State Assembly districts
- 2018 California State Assembly election
- California State Capitol
- California State Capitol Museum
- California State Legislature
- California State Senate
- Districts in California
- List of California state legislatures
- List of speakers of the California State Assembly
- Members of the California State Legislature
Notes
- Republican Vince Fong resigned on May 24, 2024, after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election. He was re-elected in the 2024 California State Assembly election concurrent with his re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, but Fong refused to take his seat in the Assembly.
- Republican Stan Ellis took office after his election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Vince Fong.[7]
- Republican Bill Essayli resigned on April 1, 2025, after his nomination as interim United States Attorney for the Central District of California.
- Republican Bill Essayli resigned on April 1, 2025
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References
External links
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