Substantive representation refers to advocating for the interests of the people. Our focus is on the heart of the legislator's job: lawmaking, oversight, and constituency service. As representatives, the legislators act in the people's place to fulfill their needs and wants. They are both delegates, mirroring the people's demands, and trustees, doing what they think is best for their constituents. Ever mindful of the next election, legislators will act as delegates when the people have strong opinions. Much of the time, however, voters have not expressed a clear preference regarding a proposed law and expect their representatives to make informed decisions as their trustees.
The legislative process is relatively straightforward. Both chambers approve a bill, and the governor signs it to make it a law. A state senator or assembly member authors a bill, but the actual legal drafting of the bill is done by the Office of the Legislative Counsel. This office is a nonpartisan agency established in 1913 to provide many professional services, including drafting bills, giving legal opinions to the legislature and the governor, and compiling records of all bills and statutes passed each session.
After the Legislative Counsel drafts the bill, the author submits it to the full Senate or Assembly, where it is formally presented; this is called the First Reading (the bill number, the title, and the author are announced). The bill is then printed and sent to the Rules Committee, which assigns it to one (or more) policy committees and a fiscal committee if it involves spending. No action can be taken for thirty days after it is introduced in committee. If a majority of the committee votes for the bill, it goes to the full Senate or Assembly for a second reading. After debating by the whole body, a third reading is made before a roll call vote where a simple majority is required to pass most bills. The bill must then go through the same procedure in the other chamber. A conference committee reconciles differences between Assembly and Senate versions of the bill, and then the bill goes to the governor for approval. A two-thirds majority of both chambers is necessary to override a veto. Legislative overrides are extremely rare. Figure 8.2.2.1 shows this process.
While committees organize formal deliberations and vote on bills, political party leaders set the chambers' priorities. The party with the majority of members in each chamber elects leaders who control the legislation process and holds the majority of seats on every committee. Each partisan leader selects the chairs of the committees and decides through the Rules Committee when bills will be heard by committees and on the floor of each chamber. The leader of the majority party caucus is the Speaker of the Assembly. In the State Senate, the President pro Tempore is elected by the majority caucus to lead this chamber because the President of the State Senate is a separately elected person, the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor (like the United States Vice President) holds no legislative power in the chamber except to break a tie vote.
In addition to lawmaking, committees engage in oversight by reviewing the actions of executive branch agencies as they implement laws. Committees will hear from many stakeholders (those involved in a particular issue area, such as interest group leaders, bureaucrats, and constituents) to consider further actions and hold bureaucrats accountable for implementing the law. There are many standing committees in the Assembly and the Senate. They are organized by policy area, for example, agriculture, appropriations, banking and finance, etc.
Lastly, the third substantive role of legislators is to serve as liaisons or ombudspersons between their constituents and the government. Citizens may be seeking services from government agencies (for example, health care, educational services, care for the elderly or disabled, etc.) and finding it challenging to navigate the complexities of so many offices and communication in the age of emails and online forms. The Sacramento or district office staff resolves problems to provide needed services.
