09.09.10: Frequently Asked Questions About Special Sessions
By David Walrath
Because we do not have a budget at the end of the regular session, school districts have many questions about what happens next. Just as the Governor has called special sessions for budget emergencies, taxes, school reform, water, and other topics, we expect the Governor will call a special session for the budget once a deal is reached by the Big 5 Leadership. The Big 5 consists of Governor Schwarzenegger, President pro Tempore of the Senate – Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John Pérez, Senate Republican Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth and Assembly Minority Floor Leader Martin Garrick. The following are frequently asked questions and answers about special sessions because the Governor could also call a special session on pension reform, infrastructure financing and other topics at the same time as calling a session for budget enactment.
Question 1: What is a special session?
It is a legislative session that is held in addition to the “regular session.” The regular session starts the first week of December, after the November elections, and continues through November 30th after the next November elections. The regular session is specified in the California Constitution. An extraordinary session – also called a special session – may be called by a governor to address specific topics.
Question 2: Why would a governor call a special session if there is a regular session?
A governor may call a special session in order to focus legislative activity on a specific high priority topic. Also, the rules of a special session are different than the rules of a regular session.
Question 3: How do the rules differ?
In a regular session, a bill that is enacted by majority vote and signed by a governor becomes operative on January 1 of the year after signature, unless the legislation specifies a later date. In a special session a majority vote bill signed by a governor will become operative 120 days after the end of a special session. Consequently, a majority vote special session bill passed in February with a special session ending during February could become operative on the first of July rather than 6 months later on January 1. Urgency bills with two-thirds vote become operative upon signature whether they are passed in a regular session or a special session.
The advantage of a special session is that a governor and the majority party can reach agreement on majority vote legislation that can become operative reasonably quickly without the minority party having leverage and being able to hold up legislation because of a two-thirds vote requirement.
In case you were hoping for an alternative to the two-thirds vote requirement for budget and taxes, special sessions do not change the two-thirds vote requirement for budgets and tax increases.
Question 4: How often can a governor call a special session?
A governor can call a special session as many times as he/she wants. Governor Schwarzenegger has set a post-full time legislature record with the number of special sessions he has called during the 2008-10 regular session.
Question 5: Under the rules of the special session, may the Legislature pass bills unrelated to the special session during the special session?
As long as the governor and the lawyers believe a bill is reasonably related to the topic of a special session the Legislature may pass, and the governor may sign, a bill that most other people would consider unrelated.
Because there is no definition of a budget trailer bill other than a bill related to the budget, if a governor calls a budget special session then any bill on any topic that relates to a program in the state budget or language in the state budget could be considered a budget trailer bill.
Because almost all state and local activities have some reference within the state budget, this broad interpretation of budget trailer bills could effectively mean there is no limit or control on the bills that could be considered in a budget special session.
