Deck 4: The State Legislature

Question 1

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 1

B

Question 2

Lawmakers elected after 2012 are allowed to serve:

A)as many terms as they want; there are no restrictions on service
B)six years in the Assembly, and six 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 six years, they can restart the clock and serve another 14 years

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

D

Question 4

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

A)fifty; one hundred
B)fifty; fifty
C)eighty; forty
D)forty; eighty

Question 5

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 6

Who is in charge of drawing congressional district boundaries?

A)the Assembly and Senate
B)the governor
C)Congress
D)the state's Citizens Redistricting Commission

Question 7

If a person wants to find out more about a bill being considered by the legislature, the best place to look for information online would be:

A)the Secretary of State's office (www.sos.ca.gov)
B)a site maintained by the Legislative Counsel's Office (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
C)the Legislative Analyst's office (www.lao.ca.gov)
D)the Sergeant of Arms of the Assembly (http://www.assembly.ca.gov/sergeant/)

Question 8

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 9

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

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

Question 10

How long is a state Senate term?

A)two years
B)four years
C)six years
D)eight years

Question 11

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 12

The "Big Five" is a term that refers to:

A)the governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, Senate president pro tem, and the minority leaders of both houses
B)the top five leaders of the Assembly and Senate
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 five most important bills that have been passed in a session

Question 13

Confirming the governor's appointees to 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 14

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

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

Question 15

When a Senate committee calls state employees or administrators to testify about the programs they run, or monitors a program to ensure that a law is being carried out according to the legislature's intent, it is performing:

A)outreach
B)budgeting
C)casework
D)oversight

Question 16

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

A)four years
B)eight years
C)twelve years
D)sixteen years

Question 17

How many votes are needed to pass most bills?

A)a simple majority (50 percent + 1)
B)a supermajority of 55 percent
C)a supermajority of 2/3
D)a supermajority of ¾

Question 18

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
D)any bill, which must be passed by two-thirds

Question 19

How long is an Assembly term?

A)one year
B)two years
C)four years
D)five years

Question 20

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

A)four years
B)eight years
C)twelve years
D)sixteen years

Question 21

"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 22

Who is the 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 23

Which party is opposed to raising taxes on principle?

A)Republican Party
B)Democratic Party
C)neither party
D)both parties

Question 24

Which party or parties has/have held majorities almost continuously in both the Assembly and Senate for about forty years?

A)Republican
B)Democratic
C)neither; power shifts regularly
D)it doesn't matter because parties share power in both houses, so majority party status is irrelevant

Question 25

A bill that contains the designation "SB" means that the bill:

A)is preferred by the governor
B)originated in the state Senate
C)was preapproved by the Secretary of State
D)originated in the Assembly

Question 26

A bill that contains the designation "AB" means that the bill:

A)is preferred by the governor
B)originated in the state Senate
C)was audited by the Attorney General
D)originated in the Assembly

Question 27

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 28

The California legislature is considered a(n)_________legislature because _________.

A)amateur; it is full of low-paid, citizen legislators.
B)amateur; 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 29

Another word for a "law" is

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

Question 30

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 31

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 32

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 33

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 34

Committees consider virtually every bill that is referred to them by holding hearings for each one, and the majority of bills successfully pass out of committee.

Question 35

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

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

Question 36

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 six years or more.

Question 37

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 38

Which party supports social safety net programs and is opposed to cutting them on principle?

A)Republican Party
B)Democratic Party
C)neither party
D)both parties

Question 39

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

Question 40

"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 41

After the 2014 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 42

Today, whites constitute less than half the state's population, and are proportionally represented in the legislature (fewer than half of legislators are White).
@ Whites now constitute less than half the state's population, but are a clear majority in the legislature.

Question 43

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

Question 44

Under term limits, freshman lawmakers with no prior legislative experience often chair committees.

Question 45

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

Question 46

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

Question 47

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

Question 48

California legislators draw their own district boundaries.

Question 49

Women are approximately 25 percent of the California legislature.

Question 50

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