California lawmakers return to the Capitol to tackle leftover business
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-85477944/
California lawmakers return to the Capitol to tackle leftover business
Melanie Mason
January 4, 2016, 12:05 a.m
PHOTO
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) has said she intends to introduce legislation to help part-time workers.
MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES
When state lawmakers return Monday for the start of the new legislative year, their plate will be full of leftovers from 2015, including bills to snuff out smoking, raise the minimum wage and expand the state's policies on paid family leave.
And the 2016 agenda will get even more crowded with the raft of new bills lawmakers will introduce as they return from a nearly three-month recess, including a focus on tightening California's already tough gun laws in the wake of last month's deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino.
But the typical chaos of the Capitol may be intensified this year, the last of the two-year session, with turnover among three of the four top leadership positions and increasing overlap between ballot measures and legislative action.
And looming large are the November elections, in which every Assembly seat and half the Senate seats will be up for grabs, which could make it more difficult to push through controversial proposals.
"I've got a feeling that this being an election year, lawmakers won't want to ruffle any feathers because this electorate is so volatile, even in California," said Patrick Dorinson, a political blogger and former deputy secretary for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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