California State Legislature

California State Legislature
2023–24 session
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
HousesSenate (upper)
Assembly (lower)
Term limits
12 years
History
New session started
December 5, 2022
Leadership
Eleni Kounalakis (D)
since January 7, 2019
Mike McGuire (D)
since February 5, 2024
Senate Republican Leader
Brian W. Jones (R)
since December 2022
Robert Rivas (D)
since June 30, 2023
Assembly Minority Leader
James Gallagher (R)
since February 8, 2022
Structure
Seats120
40 Senators
80 Assemblymembers
Senate political groups
  •   Democratic (31)
  •   Republican (9)
Assembly political groups
Elections
Last Senate election
November 8, 2022
(20 seats)
Last Assembly election
November 8, 2022
Next Senate election
November 5, 2024
(20 seats)
Next Assembly election
November 5, 2024
Meeting place
California State Capitol
Sacramento
Website
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Constitution
Constitution of California
Rules
Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly

38°34′36″N 121°29′36″W / 38.576572°N 121.493411°W / 38.576572; -121.493411

California State Assembly chamber
California State Senate chamber
A few volumes of the journals of each house (Senate [upper chamber] is red; Assembly [lower chamber] is green).
Capitol Annex Swing Space. During the replacement of the Capitol Annex, starting in 2022 Legislature offices are located at 1021 O Street two blocks from the Capitol.

The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members).[1] Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

The California State Legislature is one of ten full-time state legislatures in the United States.[2] The houses are distinguished by the colors of the carpet and trim of each house: the Senate uses red and the Assembly uses green, inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords and House of Commons respectively.[3]

The Democratic Party currently holds veto-proof supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature.[4] The Assembly consists of 62 Democrats and 17 Republicans, while the Senate is composed of 31 Democrats and 9 Republicans. Except for a brief period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election. The Senate has been under Democratic control since 1970, except for a brief period from 1973 to 1975.

  1. ^ "California Constitution Article IV § 2". California Office of Legislative Counsel. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  2. ^ ""Full- and Part-time Legislatures"". Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  3. ^ "Assembly & Senate | California State Capitol Museum". Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Gstalter, Morgan (November 12, 2018). "Dems gain veto-proof supermajority in California legislature". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2019.