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Assembly adopts standing rules, tables minority-rights resolution and confirms officers
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Summary
The Assembly adopted a standing rules package (HR 1) and routine organizational measures including HR 2 and HR 3; an externally proposed minority-rights rules change (HR 4) was laid on the table after a procedural vote (57–19). Kara Jenkins was reappointed legislative counsel by concurrent resolution.
The California State Assembly adopted several organizational and housekeeping measures during its organizational session, including a standing rules package and the designation of nonmember officers and other routine appointments.
House Resolution 1, presented by Assemblymember Pacheco, establishes the standing rules for the 2025–26 session, including committee reorganizations, clarification of floor amendment procedures, and a reduced member bill limit of 35. The clerk announced the roll-call result on HR 1 as Ayes 58, Nos 19, and the resolution was adopted.
A separate proposal, House Resolution 4, introduced by Assemblymember Asseley/Acele to codify five specific "minority rights" in standing rules (committee appointment authority for the minority leader, guaranteed bill hearings at an author’s request, uninterrupted questioning time in committee, protections for floor debate, and anti-retaliation language), was presented and debated. The majority leader moved to lay HR 4 on the table; the procedural vote carried — Ayes 57, Nos 19 — and HR 4 was removed from immediate consideration.
Assemblymember De Maio moved for a one-hour recess so members could review a 73-page rules package he said the minority had not received until that day; that recess motion failed on a roll-call vote (Ayes 19, Nos 56).
House Resolution 2, offered on behalf of Speaker Rivas, designated Sue Parker as chief clerk and Cheryl Craft as chief sergeant at arms and was adopted unanimously (Aye 76, No 0). Chief Justice Guerrero administered oaths to the nonmember officers at the rostrum.
House Resolution 3 — a routine measure governing warrants, distribution of assembly histories and rules for bill introductions during the organizational recess — also passed unanimously.
The assembly adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 (SCR 2) to reappoint Kara Jenkins as legislative counsel; the attendance roll was substituted for the vote and the resolution passed 78–0.
Members concluded adjournments in memory for former Assemblymember Patricia (Patty) Berg and then adjourned to the organizational recess. The desk will remain open for bill introductions through the organizational recess; the next floor session was scheduled for January 6, 2025.
Votes and formal outcomes recorded in this session were procedural and organizational; no substantive policy bills were finally considered for passage during this sitting.
