Deck 4: The State Legislature

Question 1

How long is a state Senate term?

A)2 years
B)4 years
C)6 years
D)8 years

Answer 1

B

Question 2

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 2

B

Question 3

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

A)110,000
B)250,000
C)450,000
D)930,000

Answer 3

D

Question 4

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

Question 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

How long is an Assembly term?

A)1 year
B)2 years
C)4 years
D)5 years

Question 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

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.

Question 15

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

A)50;100
B)50;50
C)80;40
D)40;80

Question 16

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

Question 17

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

A)Democratic
B)Republican
C)neither: membership was evenly split

Question 18

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

Question 19

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

A)100,000
B)250,000
C)450,000
D)900,000

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

Question 23

"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

Question 24

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

Question 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

Question 26

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

Question 27

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

Question 28

"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

Question 29

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

A)10,000
B)5,000
C)1,000
D)500

Question 30

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

Question 31

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

A "statute" refers to a ______.

A)statue that drinks too much "t."
B)constitutional amendment
C)criminal proceeding
D)law

Question 34

Another word for a "law" is ______.

A)resolution
B)statute
C)bill
D)caucus

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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

Question 38

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

A)a simple majority
B)two thirds
C)three fourths
D)unanimity

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

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.

Question 45

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.

Question 46

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

Question 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

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

Question 50

Bipartisanship plays an essential role in California politics.

Question 51

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

Question 52

Assembly districts are twice the size of a Senate district.

Question 53

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.

Question 54

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.

Question 55

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

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

Question 58

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.

Question 59

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

Question 60

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.

Question 61

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

Question 62

What is bipartisanship,and where does it occur?

Question 63

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.

Question 64

Describe the function of the Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Question 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

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.

Question 68

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

Question 69

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

Question 70

Approximately one out of four California legislators is a woman.

Question 71

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

Question 72

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

Question 73

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.

Question 74

California legislators draw their own district boundaries.

Question 75

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

Question 76

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.

Question 77

What features render the California legislature a "professionalized" institution?

Question 78

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

Question 79

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

Question 80

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