# California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the [California State Legislature](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-state-legislature), consisting of 80 members elected from districts apportioned on the basis of population to two-year terms.[1](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/elected-officials) • [2](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/glossary) It meets at the State Capitol in Sacramento and, together with the 40-member State Senate, passes the laws of California, subject to approval or veto by the Governor.[3](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/legislative-process/information-help-you-follow-process)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size and terms | 80 members elected to two-year terms from population-based districts[1](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/elected-officials) |
| Current composition | 60 Democrats, 19 Republicans, 1 vacant seat (District 3)[4](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers) |
| Leadership | Speaker Robert Rivas; Speaker pro Tempore Josh Lowenthal; Majority Leader Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry[5](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership) |
| Vote thresholds | Most bills need 41 Assembly votes; urgency measures and appropriation bills need 54[6](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process) |
| Constituency size | Each Assembly member represents about 494,709 people[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/) • [15](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2023/05/16/californias-state-legislators-represent-most-residents-per-district/) |
| Bill introduction limit | Each member may introduce 35 bills per two-year session[8](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/) |
| Officers | Chief Clerk Sue Parker; Chief Sergeant at Arms Cheryl R. Craft[9](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/media/150) |
## Membership
Assembly members are elected from 80 districts drawn on the basis of population.[2](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/glossary) Because California's population is large relative to its legislature, each member represents the most residents per district among state lower houses: about 494,709 residents per Assembly district, compared with roughly 976,000 per state Senate district.[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/) • [15](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2023/05/16/californias-state-legislators-represent-most-residents-per-district/) All 80 seats are contested every two years, unlike the staggered four-year Senate terms.[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/)
The chamber's official member roster currently lists 60 Democrats, 19 Republicans, and one vacant seat, District 3, which covers Butte, Glenn, Placer, Sutter, Tehama, and Yuba counties.[4](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers) • [10](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/member-seating-chart) Each member's official home page publishes contact addresses and phone numbers for Capitol and district offices, a biography, the member's authored legislation, committee memberships, and press releases.[4](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers)
## Leadership and officers
The Assembly's presiding officer is the Speaker, currently Robert Rivas, a Democrat representing District 29.[5](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership) • [4](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers) The Democratic leadership team includes the Speaker pro Tempore ([Josh Lowenthal](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-lowenthal)), an Assistant Speaker pro Tempore ([Celeste Rodriguez](https://www.edgepedia.org/celeste-rodriguez)), the Majority Leader (Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry), two Assistant Majority Leaders, a Majority Whip ([Mark González](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-gonzalez)), two Assistant Majority Whips, and a Democratic Caucus Chair (Rick Chavez Zbur).[5](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership)
The identity of the Republican Leader currently differs between two official Assembly sources. The Assembly's leadership page lists Alexandra M. Macedo of District 33 as Republican Leader,[5](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership) while the Office of the Chief Clerk's officer and leadership roster for the 2025-26 Regular Session, updated February 26, 2026, lists [Heath Flora](https://www.edgepedia.org/heath-flora) as Republican Leader, with James Gallagher as former Republican Leader (second-ranking Republican) and Macedo as a Deputy Republican Leader.[9](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/media/150) The same clerk roster records the Republican side's other posts, including a Republican Caucus Chair (Juan Alanis), Republican Floor Leader ([Kate Sanchez](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-sanchez)), and [Chief Whip](https://www.edgepedia.org/chief-whip) (Alexandra M. Macedo).[9](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/media/150)
Nonpartisan officers run the chamber's operations: the Chief Clerk supervises and coordinates the proceedings and actions of the Assembly, and the Chief Sergeant at Arms and Chaplain serve alongside.[5](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership) • [2](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/glossary) The Rules Committee, chaired by [Blanca Pacheco](https://www.edgepedia.org/blanca-pacheco) with [Tom Lackey](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-lackey) as Vice Chair, handles the chamber's administrative business.[9](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/media/150)
## Role in lawmaking
A bill becomes law only after approval by policy and fiscal committees in both the 40-member Senate and the 80-member Assembly, followed by a majority vote of the full membership of both houses; the Governor may then sign it or veto it.[3](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/legislative-process/information-help-you-follow-process) Within the Assembly, most bills require 41 votes to pass, while urgency measures and appropriation bills require 54, a two-thirds threshold.[6](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process) Urgency measures require two-thirds approval, while bills that require money have exceptions, including simple-majority passage for the budget bill and qualifying budget-related bills; the two-thirds bar in the Senate is 27 votes.[8](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/) • [6](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process)
**Committee review.** Once introduced, a bill is sent to the appropriate committee or committees, where hearings allow public testimony in support and opposition; a majority vote of the committee's membership is needed to advance.[8](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/) Bills with a fiscal impact or state cost are heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which maintains a "suspense file" of bills whose fate is decided with limited explanation; in May 2024 the committee approved only about 65 percent of the bills on its suspense file, leaving more than 230 without a path forward.[6](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process) • [11](https://apnews.com/article/c9435b074f2e7debb60de6b5d585ff0c)
Members are limited to introducing 35 bills per two-year session.[8](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/) Recent rules also require bills to be in print for 72 hours before a vote, a requirement that applies to budget "trailer bills," which sometimes carry major policy changes without full committee vetting.[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/) If one house amends the other's bill and the house of origin refuses to concur, the bill goes to a conference committee.[6](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process) A governor's veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house, and the [Legislature](https://www.edgepedia.org/legislature) has 60 calendar days to act on a veto.[8](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/)
## Composition and party control
Democrats hold a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers, which allows passage of tax and other bills without any Republican votes, though internal differences between business-friendly moderates and progressives mean not every Democratic bill passes.[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/) The partisan lean reflects the electorate: about 47 percent of registered voters for the 2022 elections were Democrats and 24 percent Republicans.[7](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/)
## History
The first Legislature convened in December 1849 in San Jose, in a two-story adobe hotel, after a constitutional convention met at Colton Hall in Monterey and proposed a constitution that the people ratified.[12](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/2760) The capital moved to Vallejo in 1851, and after convening there in 1852 the Legislature moved to Sacramento to complete the session; the Legislature later determined that Sacramento would be the state capital and moved permanently from Benicia in February 1854.[12](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/2760) California's first Constitution was drafted at Colton Hall beginning September 1, 1849, adopted by the convention on October 10, and ratified by the people on November 13, 1849, a year before statehood.[13](https://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pdf/caleg2.pdf)
[The Office](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-office) of the Chief Clerk maintains session histories going back well over a century, including the 1881 California State Assembly and Senate Final History.[14](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/archive-list?field_archive_type_value=histories)
## References
1. [Elected Officials, Office of the Chief Clerk, California State Assembly](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/elected-officials)
2. [Glossary, California State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/glossary)
3. [Information to Help You Follow the Process, California State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/resources/legislative-process/information-help-you-follow-process)
4. [Members, California State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers)
5. [Leadership, California State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/leadership)
6. [Process, Office of the Chief Clerk, California State Assembly](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/legislative-information/process)
7. [Inside the California Capitol: How your state government works, CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-state-capitol-how-government-works/)
8. [Life Cycle of a Bill, California State Capitol Museum](https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/engage/about-the-government/life-cycle-of-a-bill/)
9. [Officers and Leadership of the Assembly, 2025-26 Regular Session, Office of the Chief Clerk](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/media/150)
10. [Member Seating Chart, California State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/member-seating-chart)
11. [Psychedelic therapy and workers' rights bills fail to advance in California's tough budget year, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/c9435b074f2e7debb60de6b5d585ff0c)
12. [2015-16 California State Assembly: California Capitols](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/2760)
13. [The Constitution of 1849, California Legislative Information](https://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pdf/caleg2.pdf)
14. [Archives, Office of the Chief Clerk, California State Assembly](https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/archive-list?field_archive_type_value=histories)
15. [California's state legislators represent most residents per district - Ballotpedia News](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2023/05/16/californias-state-legislators-represent-most-residents-per-district/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › United States election events › US state and local election events › US state legislative and down-ballot elections › State legislature elections*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license