California State Assembly

California State Assembly
California State Assembly
	California State Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house of the California State Legislature
Term limits	Elected before 2012:; 3 terms (6 years); Elected 2012 and after:; 6 terms (12 years)
History
New session started	December 3, 2012
Leadership
Speaker	John Pérez, (D); Since March 1, 2010
Speaker pro Tempore	Nora Campos, (D); Since August 10, 2012
Majority Leader	Toni Atkins, (D); Since September 1, 2012
Minority Leader	Connie Conway, (R); Since December 6, 2010
Structure
Seats	80
Political groups	Democratic Party (54); Republican Party (25); Vacancy (1)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article 4, California Constitution
Salary	$90,526/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2012
Next election	November 4, 2014
Redistricting	California Citizens Redistricting Commission
Motto
	Legislatorum est justas leges condere; ("It is the duty of legislators to pass just laws.")
Meeting place
	State Assembly Chamber; California State Capitol; Sacramento, California
Website
	California State Assembly

Coordinates: 38°34′35″N 121°29′36″W / 38.57639°N 121.49333°W / 38.57639; -121.49333

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. The legislative body consists of 80 members, with each member representing approximately 465,000 people. Due to the state's large population and relatively small legislature, the State Assembly has the largest population per representative ratio of any state legislature lower house and second largest of any legislative lower house in the United States after the federal House of Representatives. As a result of Proposition 140 in 1990 and Proposition 28 in 2012, members elected to the legislature prior to 2012 are restricted by term limits to three two-year terms (six years), while those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years in the legislature in any combination of four-year state senate or two-year state assembly terms.^[1]

The State Assembly convenes at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

Leadership [edit]

The speaker presides over the State Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of 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 John Pérez (46th–Los Angeles). The majority leader is Democrat Toni Atkins (76th–San Diego), while the minority leader is Republican Connie Conway (34th–Tulare).

Meeting chamber [edit]

The chamber's green tones are based on the British House of Commons. 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 [edit]

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 may not have served three terms in the State Assembly since November 6, 1990. 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.

Officers [edit]

Position		Name	Party	District
	Speaker	John Pérez	Democratic	53rd–Los Angeles
	Speaker pro tempore	Nora Campos	Democratic	27th–San Jose
	Assistant speaker pro tempore	Kevin Mullin	Democratic	22nd–South San Francisco
	Majority floor leader	Toni Atkins	Democratic	78th–San Diego
	Assistant majority floor leader	V. Manuel Perez	Democratic	56th–Coachella
	Majority whip	Chris Holden	Democratic	41st–Pasadena
	Democratic whip	Jimmy Gomez	Democratic	51st–Echo Park
	Majority caucus chair	Phil Ting	Democratic	19th–San Francisco
	Minority leader	Connie Conway	Republican	26th–Tulare
	Assistant minority floor leader	Curt Hagman	Republican	55th–Chino Hills
	Minority caucus chair	Brian Jones	Republican	71st–Santee
	Deputy minority floor leader	Don Wagner	Republican	68th–Irvine
	Chief minority whip	Dan Logue	Republican	3rd–Loma Rica
	Republican whips	Brian Maienschein	Republican	77th–San Diego
	Republican whips	Marie Waldron	Republican	75th–Escondido
Chief Clerk		E. Dotson Wilson
Sergeant-at-Arms		Ronald Pane
Chaplain		Father Constantine Papademos

The Chief Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplain are not members of the Legislature.

Sergeant-at-Arms [edit]

The Sergeant-at-Arms is tasked with the members of the California State Assembly. This position has existed since December 15, 1849, when Samuel N. Houston became California's first Sergeant-at-Arms.

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Ind	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	52	1	27	80	0

Begin	55	0	25	80	0
March 21, 2013	54	0	25	79	1
Latest voting share	68.4%	0%	31.6%

California State Assembly

Contents

Leadership [edit]

Meeting chamber [edit]

Candidate qualifications [edit]

Officers [edit]

Sergeant-at-Arms [edit]

Composition [edit]

Seating chart [edit]

Sessions [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

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