Both the California State Senate Elections Committee, and the California Assembly Committee, had been expected to meet on Tuesday, July 7. Many election law bills of interest were on their agendas.

However, because of the California budget crisis, it is likely that both hearings will be cancelled. The legislature is not in session July 3-July 5, although legislative leaders continue negotiating a budget over that weekend. Assuming no budget will be in place on July 7, all non-budget legislative hearings are cancelled.

Bills of interest include AB 909, to provide that independent voters should be told at the polls on primary day that they may choose to vote in the Democratic, Republican or American Independent primaries; AB 1121, on letting 10 non-charter cities or counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections; AB 6, on requiring firms that pay petition circulators to register with the Secretary of State; and SB 34, to outlaw paying circulators per-signature. All these bills had been set to be heard in one of the two committees on July 7.

Also stalled is AB 1396, to deregulate the Democratic Party’s internal structure. It has passed the Assembly and the Senate Elections Committee, but won’t receive a vote on the Senate floor until the budget is settled.