county government, city government, public morals, elections and election laws, and federal relations. Each member of the senate belongs to five or six different committees.

The assembly organizes in much the same way as the senate, except that it must elect its presiding officer, the speaker. It is called to order by the clerk of the preceding assembly and proceeds to elect a speaker. It then elects a speaker pro tem., a chaplain, a chief clerk, and a sergeant at arms. The assembly has about the same number of attachés as the senate, and they are selected in the same manner. The standing committees of the assembly are about fifty in number, and their members are appointed by the speaker. Each member usually belongs to five, six, or more committees. The most important committees have the same names as the corresponding committees in the senate, except that the important committee on finance is known as the " ways and means committee in the assembly and the "finance committee " in the senate.

The standing rules of each house are important features in the process of lawmaking. They determine how the house shall go about its work, what privileges the members may enjoy, what committees shall be appointed, etc. Each house at the beginning of each regular session adopts its own rules, which are usually the rules of the preceding session slightly modified. The rules of either house may be amended on one day's notice by a two-thirds vote.

122. The Passing of Laws.1-Each house participates in the passing of laws according to its rules, which, of course, must not be contrary to the provisions of section 15, article IV of the constitution. The history of any bill that is enacted into a law is practically as follows:

1 Political Code, § 309 seg.

CIVIL GOV. IN CAL. 12

1. It is introduced, usually in typewritten form, in the senate or assembly by a member, and is immediately taken to the desk of the clerk or secretary. Here it is properly numbered and the title is read aloud. This is the "first reading."

2. It is then referred by the chair to one of the standing committees. Here it is considered point by point, and interested persons are given an opportunity to appear before the committee in favor of or in opposition to the bill. The committee must report on the bill within ten days, unless the house grants a longer time.1 The committee may recommend that the bill " do pass," or that it " do not pass "; or it may report the bill back without recommendation, or suggest amendments to it, or offer a substitute for it. The original bill and also the recommendation of the committee are printed, and a copy of each is placed on the desk of each member. The clerk or secretary then places the number of the bill at the bottom of the "second reading' file.

3. When the bill is reached on the file, the title is read by the clerk or secretary, and the recommendation of the committee is pointed out. This is the "second reading.” Without debate it is passed to the "third reading" by a viva voce vote, and its number is placed at the bottom of the "third reading" file. The bill is, at this point, referred to the engrossing and enrolling clerk, who must make certain that accurate copies of the original bill and amendments suggested by the committee, if any, are printed for consideration at the third reading.

1 This is the rule in each house, but it is often not carried out. Many bills are never reported out, but are "smothered in committee." The author of any bill may prevent this if he is able to secure a majority vote of the house ordering the committee to report.

When the bill is reached on the third reading file, its number and title are read,' and it is up for final consideration. Debate is in order, and any member may offer amendments; but in most cases the recommendation of the committee is accepted. An amendment is disposed of by viva voce vote, unless three members demand a roll call. When the bill is put upon its final passage, the roll must be called and the votes recorded. Forty-one votes are required in the assembly, and twenty-one in the senate, to pass a bill.

5. After passing the house in which it originated, the bill is sent by the clerk or secretary to the other house, where it is reported to the presiding officer. The title is then read aloud by the secretary or clerk, and it is referred by the chair to the proper standing committee. After the committee reports, the bill must be "read" a second and a third time before it is passed. The second house cannot amend it without the concurrence of the first.2

6. After both houses have passed the bill in identical form, it is signed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, and is then presented to the governor. The duties of the governor in reference to it are sufficiently set forth in section 16, article IV of the constitution.

Each house passes resolutions and proposes constitutional amendments in the same manner as it passes bills, except that only one "reading is required. A twothirds vote is necessary in the case of constitutional amend

ments.

1 No bill is ever actually read aloud in either house.

2A "conference committee" consisting of members from both houses is sometimes appointed to consider points on which the two houses find it difficult to agree.

1

An act passed in 1913 provides for a bureau to assist in the task of preparing bills to present to the legislature. This bureau is known as the legislative counsel bureau, and is in the charge of a chief, who is appointed by a board consisting of the governor, two members of the assembly, and two members of the senate, each house selecting its two members. The term of office of the chief and of the appointive members of the board is four years. The board has general supervision over the chief and determines what assistants he may have.

The chief and his assistants must aid in the preparation of bills for presentation to the legislature upon the request of the governor; of any judge of the state supreme court, the district courts of appeal, or the superior courts of the state; or of any committee of either house of the legislature. Any such request must be in writing, and must state the substance of the desired bill. When the legislature is in session the bureau must hold itself in readiness to assist any member or any committee in the preparation of bills. It is very important that all laws are properly drawn and that they are in harmony with other laws and with decisions of the supreme court. In order that it may be prepared to give expert assistance in the preparation of bills, the bureau must make a careful and continuous study of the laws of this and other states, and of supreme court decisions.

123. The Powers of the Legislature. As we have seen, (115), the tenth amendment to the national Constitution declares that the "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 1 Statutes of 1913, chapter 322.

people." This means that any state may exercise any of these unnamed, residuary powers; but that the American people, by amending the national Constitution, have the power to impose such restrictions as they may choose to impose. The legislature is the branch of the state government which exercises these residuary powers.1 Its powers, therefore, could not be named; no list of them could be made. Subject to the provisions of the state constitution, it may exercise any power except those which are granted exclusively to the United States, and those which are expressly denied to the states by the national Constitution.3

The provisions of our state constitution relative to the powers of the legislature may be thus indicated:

1. The legislature is commanded to do certain things. (See article II, section 2; article IV, sections 21, 33; article VI, sections 11, 13, 16; article VIII, section 1 ; article IX, sections 1, 5, 7, 9; article X, sections 5, 6; article XI, sections 4, 5, 6; article XII, section 24; article XIII, sections 8, 14, f; article XV, section 2; article XVII, section 1; article XIX, sections 1, 2, 4; article XX, sections 6, 11, 14, 15.) There is no power, except the power of public opinion, to compel the legislature to enact the laws thus required; but in most cases it has done so. (See § 31.)

2. The legislature is required to do certain things in certain ways. (See article IV, sections 6, 24, 25, 27, 29,

1 See 16 Cal. 332; 35 Cal. 624; 73 Cal. 76; 117 Cal. 122; 117 Cal. 521; 145 Cal. 684.

The legislature is the only branch of a state government whose powers are thus undefined. The powers of the courts and of all executive officers and departments are granted to them by the state constitution and laws, and they may exercise no other powers. It is thus possible to make lists of such powers. See 6 Cal. 291. 3 See section 10, article I, and amendments 13, 14, and 15 of the national Constitution.