Assembly Rules Committee approves urgency clause for SB 280; referral motion ruled out of order

The California State Assembly Rules Committee on an unspecified date approved an urgency clause request for SB 280 (Cervantes) after a roll-call vote, and a later motion to refer SB 280 and an associated constitutional amendment (ACA) to the Judiciary and Elections committees was ruled out of order.

The urgency clause motion passed on a recorded vote of six in favor, three opposed and one member not recorded, according to the roll call taken during the committee meeting. After the vote, a committee member sought referral of item 7 (the urgency clause request for SB 280) and the ACA to the Judiciary and Elections committees; the presiding officer declared that referral motion out of order.

Committee context: adding an urgency clause to a bill would make the statute effective immediately upon the governor's signature, rather than on the standard statutory effective date. During the meeting, a member opposing the urgency request argued the petition did not meet the constitutional standard for urgency, citing Article 4 of…