Chapter 4: The State Legislature

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. In California’s system of separated powers, the legislature ______.

A. carries out law

B. makes law or policy and carries it out

C. makes law or policy

D. none of these

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

2. The California Assembly contains ______ members, whereas the California Senate contains ______ members.

A. 50; 100

B. 50; 50

C. 80; 40

D. 40; 80

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

3. How long is an Assembly term?

A. 1 year

B. 2 years

C. 4 years

D. 5 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

4. How long is a state Senate term?

A. 2 years

B. 4 years

C. 6 years

D. 8 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

5. The length of an Assembly term is ______ years, whereas the length of a Senate term is______ years.

A. 2; 4

B. 4; 6

C. 2; 6

D. 8; 12

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

6. As a professionalized institution, California’s legislature resembles that of ______.

A. the U.S. Congress

B. New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan

C. no other state; it is in a class of its own

D. the U.S. Congress, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

7. The California legislature is considered a(n) ______ legislature because ______.

A. amateur; it is full of low-paid, amateur legislators

B. citizen; it meets part-time

C. professionalized: it is full of highly paid legislators who meet year-round

D. professionalized; most lawmakers are career politicians who have spent decades enjoying the advantages of incumbency

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

8. What is the approximate, average size of an Assembly district?

A. 100,000

B. 250,000

C. 450,000

D. 900,000

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

9. What is the approximate, average size of a Senate district?

A. 110,000

B. 250,000

C. 450,000

D. 930,000

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

10. What is the maximum number of years that a person can serve in the Assembly?

A. 4 years

B. 8 years

C. 12 years

D. 16 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

11. What is the maximum number of years that a person can serve in the Senate?

A. 4 years

B. 8 years

C. 12 years

D. 16 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

12. Lawmakers elected after 2012 are allowed to serve ______.

A. as many terms as they want; there are no restrictions on service

B. 6 years in the Assembly, and 6 years in the Senate

C. a total of 12 years in one or both houses

D. 14 years in either house, and after they take a break for 6 years, they can restart their own clock and serve another 14 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

13. Lawmakers who were elected before 2012 are allowed to serve ______.

A. a total of 14 years in one or both houses

B. 6 years in the Assembly and 6 years in the Senate

C. as many terms as they want; there are no restrictions on service

D. 12 years in either house, and after they take a break for 6 years, they can restart the clock and serve another 12 years

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

14. Which of the following is NOT an outcome directly attributed to term limits?

A. Assembly members, often from the same party, vie for the same Senate seat, creating intraparty competition.

B. Annual budgets are delayed because legislators are term-limited out before final votes on the budget are taken.

C. Legislators in their last terms are less accountable to their constituents, because the electoral connection has been severed.

D. Incumbents still have huge advantages and nearly always win reelection.

Answer Location: Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

15. Legislative districts, or the districts that lawmakers represent, must contain equal numbers of people. Districts are redrawn ______, because ______.

A. every 5 years; populations shift relatively quickly across the state

B. every 10 years; the official U.S. Census counts where people live

C. every 20 years; it’s time-consuming to redraw the maps

D. never; the process is just too politically contentious

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

16. The power to draw legislative districts rests with whom?

A. Assembly and Senate committee members and their expert staff

B. the leaders of the Assembly and Senate, and the governor

C. the Citizens Redistricting Commission

D. the U.S. Congressional House delegation

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

17. Who is in charge of drawing U.S. House (congressional) district boundaries?

A. the Assembly and Senate

B. the governor

C. U.S. Congress

D. the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

18. The political party that attained supermajority status in 2012 and 2016 was ______.

A. Democratic

B. Republican

C. neither: membership was evenly split

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

19. The state law that “requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible,” is known as ______.

A. AB 32, the “Global Warming Solutions Act”

B. SB 32, the bill extending the Global Warming Solutions Act

C. CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act

D. Proposition 140

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

20. What is NOT true of staff members?

A. They vote on bills when the legislators are absent.

B. They handle the work that lawmakers would not be able to do alone, including constituency communication and casework, and meeting with the many special interest groups and lobbyists that want to discuss pending legislation.

C. They help run the offices in the district and Capitol.

D. They write bills, research legislation, write bill analyses, and make recommendations about how to vote.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

21. Which body has been referred to as the “eyes and ears of the legislature,” performing in-depth research on programs, bills, and the budget?

A. The Chief Clerk of the Assembly

B. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO)

C. The Speaker’s Office

D. The Legislative Counsel

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

22. The organization that acts as an in-house law firm, crafting legislators’ proposals into formal bills, rendering legal opinions, and making bill information available to the public electronically is ______.

A. the Legislative Counsel

B. the Legislative Analyst

C. the Speaker’s Office

D. the Chief Clerk of the Assembly

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

23. How many votes are needed to pass most bills?

A. a simple majority (50% + 1)

B. a supermajority of 55%

C. a supermajority of 2/3

D. a supermajority of 3/4

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

24. Unless they have supermajority state, the majority party usually can ignore the minority party, except when it comes to ______.

A. the budget, which must be passed unanimously

B. the budget, which contains money for every legislator’s “pet projects” for a district

C. raising taxes or fees, which requires a two-thirds majority vote

D. any bill, which must be passed by two thirds

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

25. Thinking about “how a bill becomes a law,” which of these entities does NOT have a regular role to play in the lawmaking process?

A. the governor

B. Assembly and Senate committees

C. all legislators

D. the attorney general

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

26. A person with tremendous power over a bill’s fate is ______.

A. the Speaker of the Assembly, who reads every bill and kills the ones she/he doesn’t like

B. the committee chairperson, who has the power to ignore bills that are referred to his/her committee

C. the Legislative Analyst, whose office studies the effects of policies and programs

D. the Lieutenant Governor, who has a tie-breaking vote in the Senate

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

27. What vote threshold must be met to pass the annual budget?

A. a simple majority

B. two thirds

C. three fourths

D. unanimity

Answer Location: Annual Budgeting

28. When legislators or their staff respond to constituents’ requests for help dealing with the state bureaucracy or “navigating the government system,” they are performing ______.

A. oversight

B. policymaking

C. constituency service

D. descriptive representation

Answer Location: Constituency Service and Outreach

29. When a Senate committee chairperson calls state employees or administrators to testify about the programs they run, or orders that a program be reviewed to ensure that a law is being carried out according to the legislature’s intent, the chair is performing ______.

A. outreach

B. budgeting

C. casework

D. oversight

Answer Location: Executive Branch Oversight

30. Confirming the governor’s appointees to important boards and commissions is the responsibility of ______.

A. the Office of Personnel

B. the Assembly and Senate

C. the Senate only

D. the Legislative Analyst’s Office

Answer Location: Executive Branch Oversight

31. The “Big Three” is a term that refers to ______.

A. the governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate president pro tem

B. the top three leaders of each house (six in total)

C. the state Supreme Court Chief Justice, the governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, Senate president pro tem, and the state attorney general

D. the three most important bills that have been passed in a session

Answer Location: Leaders

32. Who is Willie Brown?

A. the current Speaker of the Assembly

B. a former governor of California, known for his anti-taxation policies

C. former Speaker of the Assembly who became the “poster child” for term limits

D. the only person to have held the posts of Assembly Speaker, president pro tem, and attorney general

Answer Location: Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

33. Approximately how many bills are introduced during a 2-year legislative session?

A. 10,000

B. 5,000

C. 1,000

D. 500

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

34. “Descriptive representation” is a term that refers to ______.

A. how well legislators can describe their duties

B. the quality of journalists’ coverage of the legislature

C. how well a legislature reflects the demographic characteristics of a district, usually in terms of ethnicity, gender, and other background factors

D. how well a legislator can translate constituents’ needs, interests, and values into policy

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

35. “Substantive representation” is a term that refers to ______.

A. how well legislators can describe their duties

B. the quality of journalists’ coverage of the legislature

C. how well a legislature reflects the demographic characteristics of a district, usually in terms of ethnicity, gender, and other background factors

D. how well a legislator can translate constituents’ needs, interests, and values into policy

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

36. Another word for a “law” is ______.

A. resolution

B. statute

C. bill

D. caucus

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

37. A “statute” refers to a ______.

A. statue that drinks too much “t.”

B. constitutional amendment

C. criminal proceeding

D. law

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

38. Who is the leader (or highest ranking member) of the state Assembly?

A. the president pro tem

B. the majority leader

C. the speaker

D. the Speaker Pro Tempore

Answer Location: Leaders

39. Who is the leader (or highest ranking member) of the state Senate?

A. the president pro tem

B. the majority leader

C. the speaker

D. the Speaker Pro Tempore

Answer Location: Leaders

40. When either the Assembly or Senate holds a floor session, who presides over the proceedings on a typical day?

A. chiefs of staff to the leaders

B. speaker pro tem or a senator who acts as president pro tem

C. Sergeant at Arms for either chamber

D. the actual speaker and president pro tem of the Senate

Answer Location: Leaders

41. Regular bills require how many votes to pass?

A. 41 in the Assembly, 21 in the Senate

B. 50 in the Assembly, 50 in the Senate

C. the same number of votes in the Senate as in the Assembly

D. a total of 100 votes

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

42. In the Assembly, how many votes constitute the “supermajority” needed to raise taxes or fees, pass urgency measures, or override a veto?

A. 21

B. 41

C. 54

D. 83

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

43. In the Senate, how many votes constitute the “supermajority” needed to raise taxes or fees, pass urgency measures, or override a veto?

A. 21

B. 28

C. 33

D. 39

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

44. An open seat election is ______.

A. one in which no limits are placed on spending

B. one in which no incumbent is running

C. one in which all the challengers are outspent

D. one in which a career politician decides to run again

Answer Location: Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake | Key Terms

True/False

1. State Senate districts in California are enormous, containing even more people than U.S. House districts.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

2. Nearly 1 million people live in each state Senate district, and nearly a half-million people live in each Assembly district.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

3. Nearly 1 million people live in each Assembly district, and nearly a half-million people live in each Senate district.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

4. Assembly districts are twice the size of a Senate district.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

5. The size of a Senate district is double that of an Assembly district.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

6. The term limits law imposes a lifetime ban, meaning that once a legislator serves the maximum number of years allowed, that person may not serve in the legislature ever again.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

7. Since term limits were enacted, California state senators typically have had more than twice as much legislative experience as their counterparts in the Assembly.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

8. The term limits law restricts legislators to serving a total of 12 years in one house alone or both houses combined, which means that a person can serve all 12 years in the Assembly, all 12 in the Senate, or some combination in both houses.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

9. The term limits law in California allows a person to hold an office for a given period of time, and then run again later for the same office after “rotating out” for 6 years or more.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

10. The California legislature is the only “professionalized” lawmaking body in the United States, except for Congress.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

11. If California’s lawmakers were to receive low pay, meet part-time, and be assisted by only a few staff, it would be considered a “citizen” legislature.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

12. Day to day, legislators from both parties work closely together in committees and agree on many fixes for local and state problems.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

13. As a general rule, on local as well as state matters, Democratic and Republican representatives do not work together and are on opposite sides of every issue.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

14. Bipartisanship plays an essential role in California politics.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

15. Legislators split their time between their district offices and their Sacramento offices.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

16. In any given term, a significant portion--about 20%--of the Assembly members are freshmen who are in the steepest part of the learning curve.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

17. The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that under the U.S. Constitution, citizen redistricting commissions that were created through the initiative process are constitutional.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

18. Committees consider virtually every bill that is referred to them by holding hearings for all of them.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

19. In the state senate, the president pro tem exerts a great deal of power by chairing the all-powerful Rules Committee.

Answer Location: Leaders

20. After the 2016 elections, the state legislature was a near-perfect “portrait in miniature” of California’s population, with every major ethnic group represented proportionally by representatives.

Answer Location: Figure 4.1 Profile of California’s Population versus California State Legislature, 2017

21. To counterbalance the governor’s power, leaders of the legislature have the privilege of directly appointing some members to California boards and commissions.

Answer Location: Executive Branch Oversight

22. Today, Whites constitute less than half the state’s population, and are proportionally represented in the legislature (fewer than half of legislators are White).

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work | Figure 4.1 Profile of California’s Population versus California State Legislature, 2017

23. Whites now constitute less than half the state’s population, but hold a majority of seats in the legislature.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work | Figure 4.1 Profile of California’s Population versus California State Legislature, 2017

24. California legislators draw their own district boundaries.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

25. The recent modification to the term limits law (Prop 28) applied only to legislators, not to executive branch officials.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

16. Women are approximately 50% of the legislature because term limits have created regular opportunities for them to run for office.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

27. Approximately one out of four California legislators is a woman.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

28. Term limits have had weak effects on women’s election to the state legislature. The overall percentage of women overall has declined since hitting a high in the late 1990s.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

29. Since term limits were adopted in 1990, the number of racial and ethnic minority members has grown almost continuously, and in 2017, the Assembly was a majority minority chamber.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

30. After the 2016 elections, the largest racial/ethnic group in the state Senate was White male.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

31. The LGBT caucus is the first of its kind to be officially recognized by a state legislature.

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

32. The process of lawmaking is a difficult political process that is full of conflict, and generally it is supposed to be that way.

Answer Location: Conclusion: Of the People, for the People

Short Answer

1. ______ is in charge of drawing boundaries for Assembly and state Senate districts.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

Essay

1. What features render the California legislature a “professionalized” institution?

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

2. What is bipartisanship, and where does it occur?

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work | Key Terms

3. Describe the function of the Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

4. Has the Citizens Redistricting Commission achieved the aims of its proponents?

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

5. In what ways does the California legislature resemble the U.S. Congress? In what major ways does it differ?

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

6. Describe term limitations (or “term limits”) for California legislators.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

7. What’s an “incumbent?”

Answer Location: Key Terms

8. Describe the effects of term limits on the California state legislature.

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

9. In 2012 voters approved Prop 28, a modification to the term limits law for state legislators. What are some of the issues or concerns that Prop 28 is supposed to address that were raised by Prop 140, the original term limits law?

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Box 4.2 Term Limits: Political Earthquake

10. What are the major activities of state legislators?

Answer Location: California Representatives at Work

11. What is a “stakeholder”?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

12. How do legislators make law? Explain how they contribute to the lawmaking process at each stage.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

13. Outline the major steps in the lawmaking process.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking | Figure 4.2 How a Bill Becomes a Law

14. Describe the work that staff members perform.

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

15. How can minority political party lawmakers have an impact on lawmaking if their votes aren’t needed to pass laws or the budget?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

16. What is constituency service?

Answer Location: Constituency Service and Outreach

17. What is “oversight” and why is it important for the legislature to perform it?

Answer Location: Executive Branch Oversight

18. Which people form the “Big Three,” and what are their primary tasks?

Answer Location: Leaders

19. Describe the responsibilities of a legislative leader.

Answer Location: Leaders

20. Lawmakers are often accused of being lazy, incompetent, greedy, and/or incapable of crafting laws that solve the state’s pressing problems. Take the legislator’s viewpoint, and explain why it is difficult to accomplish one’s job in today’s political environment. What conditions complicate the job of legislating?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking | Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature

21. What is the function of the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO)?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

22. What is the purpose of a legislature?

Answer Location: Design, Purpose, and Function of the Legislature | Lawmaking and Policymaking

23. With respect to lawmakers, why did Gov. Jerry Brown state that “Republicans appear to have no power”?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

24. What is a party caucus?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

25. What conditions or factors affect how a bill is shaped?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

26. What factors complicate lawmaking, and render it a difficult process? What conditions make lawmaking particularly difficult in California?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking | Executive Branch Oversight

27. Briefly, what do committees do?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

28. What is a resolution?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

29. What is a “local bill”?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

30. How does the work of paid, legislative staff members differ from that of lobbyists?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

31. How does the legislature “check” the governor and executive branch?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking | Executive Branch Oversight

32. What is the difference between district staff and committee staff?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

33. What legislative actions require a supermajority threshold?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking

34. Besides legislators, who typically participates in the lawmaking process?

Answer Location: Lawmaking and Policymaking