California

California is a state in the United States. California shares a border with Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It has 55 electoral votes and is a safe democratic state.

State House
The California State House is composed of 80 members, each directly elected from a state house district. Members serve terms of 2 years. Elections to all House seats occur during each even-numbered year. State Representatives are term-limited to 4 consecutive of 2 years.

The California House is charged with the passage of state legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the governor for consideration. Any House member may draft bills, which will ​then be assigned to the relevant House committee at the beginning of the next week. The number of bills any individual member may draft is unlimited; however, each bill requires 25 hours to draft.

There is a committee system in the California House. Committees hold specialized hearings on relevant bills. A House member must serve on at least 1 and at most 2 committees. If the member has a sufficient number of political points, they may choose to serve as the ranking member of their political party on at most 1 of their chosen committees.

Playable committees include: Appropriations; Tax and Fiscal Policy; Education; Health Care; Transportation, Infrastructure, Housing and Community Development; Judiciary, Public Safety, and Corrections; Commerce, Labor, and Career Development; Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources; Human Services.

Non-playable subcommittees include: Agriculture; Elections and General Government; Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security; Ethics.

A committee chair is the ranking member of the House's majority party within that committee. Above all other members of the House, a ​committee chair has the right of first review over any draft bill that falls within the purview of the committee. The committee chair may grant ​or refuse a hearing. If the committee chair refuses to grant a hearing on a bill, that bill can no longer advance. This is true even if the bill already passed through the Senate.

Once a bill is granted a committee hearing, all ranking and regular members on the committee have the right to offer amendments and have those amendments voted on. A tie or majority vote leads to adoption ​of an amendment. After the amendment process is complete, a final committee vote is held. A tie or majority vote allows the bill to advance to the floor of the full House. The entire committee phase takes ​one week. When a bill reaches the House floor, a hearing is held. Any member of the House may offer amendments, which are immediately voted on. When the amendment process is complete, a final floor vote is held. Upon passage by the House, a bill is sent either: (a) to the Senate, (b) ​to the governor, or (c) to conference report. The House floor phase takes one week.

If the House considers a Senate-approved bill but then passes an amended version, the bill must be sent for a conference report to adjust ​any discrepancies between the House and Senate versions. After that, both chambers must hold a floor vote on whether to approve the conference report.

State House Districts
In default mode (3/5/2022), the State House configuration heavily favors the Democratic Party. 47 districts lean Democratic by 15% or more. Two more districts lean Democratic between 11-14% and three more lean Democratic between 6-10%. 20 districts lean Republican by more than 15%. Two more lean Republican between 11-14%, and one more between 6-10%. A neutral election year generates a configuration of 52D-23R with 5 tossups, with three that lean Republican and two that lean Democratic. In order to win a majority, the Republican Party will have to win 13 seats that lean Democratic 6% or more.

State Senate
The California State Senate is composed of 40 members, each directly elected from a state Senate district. Members serve terms of 2 years. Senate elections are not staggered. State Senate elections occur during every presidential year.

The California Senate is charged with the passage of state legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the governor for consideration. Any House member may draft bills, which will ​then be assigned to the relevant House committee at the beginning of the next week. The number of bills any individual member may draft is unlimited; however, each bill requires 25 hours to draft.

There is a committee system in the California Senate. Committees hold specialized hearings on relevant bills. A Senate member must serve on at least 1 and at most 2 committees. If the member has a sufficient number of political points, they may choose to serve as the ranking member of their political party on at most 1 of their chosen committees.

Playable committees include: Appropriations; Tax and Fiscal Policy; Education; Health Care; Transportation, Infrastructure, Housing and Community Development; Judiciary, Public Safety, and Corrections; Commerce, Labor, and Career Development; Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources; Human Services.

Non-playable subcommittees include: Agriculture; Elections and General Government; Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security; Ethics.

A committee chair is the ranking member of the Senate's majority party within that committee. Above all other members of the Senate, a ​committee chair has the right of first review over any draft bill that falls within the purview of the committee. The committee chair may grant ​or refuse a hearing. If the committee chair refuses to grant a hearing on a bill, that bill can no longer advance. This is true even if the bill already passed through the Senate.

Once a bill is granted a committee hearing, all ranking and regular members on the committee have the right to offer amendments and have those amendments voted on. A tie or majority vote leads to the adoption ​of an amendment. After the amendment process is complete, a final committee vote is held. A tie or majority vote allows the bill to advance to the floor of the full Senate. The entire committee phase takes ​one week. When a bill reaches the Senate floor, a hearing is held. Any member of the Senate may offer amendments, which are immediately voted on. When the amendment process is complete, a final floor vote is held. Upon passage by the Senate, a bill is sent either: (a) to the Senate, (b) ​to the governor, or (c) to conference report. The Senate floor phase takes one week.

If the Senate considers a House-approved bill but then passes an amended version, the bill must be sent for a conference report to adjust ​any discrepancies between the Senate and House versions. After that, both chambers must hold a floor vote on whether to approve the conference report.

State Senate Districts
In default mode (3/5/2022), the State Senate configuration heavily favors the Democratic Party. 18 seats lean Democratic by 15% or more. One seat leans Democratic between 11-14%, and two more lean Democratic between 6-10%. 12 seats lean Republican by more than 15%, and two more seats lean Republican between 11-14%. A neutral election year generates a configuration of 23D-14R with 3 tossups. One tossup leans Democratic and two lean Republican. In order to win a majority, the Republican Party would have to win at least five seats that lean Democratic by 6% or more.

Governor
The governor of California is directly elected to terms of 4 years, limited to 2 consecutive terms. Elections to the governorship are held in even years opposite to U.S. presidential elections. The governor may sign into law or veto any state bill that has passed through both houses of the state legislature. The governor may also draft legislation and send it to the state legislature for consideration. Draft bills from the governor almost always begin in the House and have to withstand the regular committee process.