California State Legislature, 2021–2022 session explained

2021–2022 session of the California State Legislature
Body:	California State Legislature
State:	California
Term Start:	December 7, 2020
Term End:	November 30, 2022
Before:	2019–2020
After:	2023–2024
Chamber1:	Senate
Membership1:	40
Control1:	Democratic
Chamber1 Leader1 Type:	President of the Senate
Chamber1 Leader1:	Eleni Kounalakis (D) Jan. 7, 2019 - present
Chamber1 Leader2 Type:	President pro tempore
Chamber1 Leader2:	Toni Atkins (D–39th) Dec. 3, 2018 – present
Chamber1 Leader3 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber1 Leader3:	Shannon Grove (R–16th) Mar. 1, 2019 – Jan. 20, 2021 Scott Wilk (R–21st) Jan. 20, 2021 – present
Chamber2:	Assembly
Membership2:	80
Control2:	Democratic
Chamber2 Leader1 Type:	Speaker
Chamber2 Leader1:	Anthony Rendon (D–63rd) Dec. 3, 2018 – present
Chamber2 Leader2 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber2 Leader2:	Marie Waldron (R–75th) Dec. 3, 2018 – Feb. 8, 2022 James Gallagher (R–3rd) Feb. 8, 2022 – present

The 2021–2022 session is the most recent former session of the California State Legislature. The session first convened on December 7, 2020 and ended November 30, 2022.^[1]

Major events

Vacancies and special elections

• December 6, 2020: Democratic senator Holly Mitchell (30th–Los Angeles) resigns one day before the session begins to take her seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
• January 29, 2021: Democratic assemblymember Shirley Weber (79th–San Diego) resigns to become Secretary of State
• March 11, 2021: Democratic assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (54th–Los Angeles) resigns and is sworn into office after winning the March 2 special election for the 30th State Senate district to replace Mitchell
• April 19, 2021: Democratic councilmember Akilah Weber (La Mesa) is sworn into office after winning the April 6 special election for the 79th State Assembly district to replace her mother
  • April 23, 2021: Democratic assemblymember Rob Bonta (18th–Alameda) resigns to become Attorney General May 28, 2021: Democratic policy advisor Isaac Bryan (Los Angeles) is sworn into office after winning the May 18th special election for the 54th State Assembly district to replace Kamlager
• September 7, 2021: Democratic school board member Mia Bonta (Alameda) is sworn into office after winning the August 31 special election for the 18th State Assembly district to replace her husband
  • • October 31, 2021: Democratic assemblymember David Chiu (17th-San Francisco) resigns to become the City Attorney of San Francisco December 10, 2021: Democratic assemblymember Ed Chau (49th-Arcadia) resigns to become a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court December 31, 2021: Democratic assemblymember Jim Frazier (11th-Discovery Bay) resigns to work in the transportation sector
  • January 5, 2022: Democratic assemblymember Lorena Gonzales (80th-San Diego) resigns to become leader of the California Federation of Labor of the AFL–CIO January 31, 2022: Democratic assemblymember Autumn Burke (62nd-Marina Del Ray) resigns due to family challenges from the COVID-19 Pandemic
• February 22, 2022: Democratic county administrator Mike Fong (Alhambra) is sworn into office after winning the February 15 special election for the 49th State Assembly district to replace Chau
• April 6, 2022: Democratic mayor Lori Wilson (Suisun City) is sworn into office after winning the April 5 special election for the 11th State Assembly district to replace Frazier
• May 3, 2022: Democratic county supervisor Matt Haney (San Francisco) is sworn into office after winning the April 19 special election for the 17th State Assembly district to replace Chiu
• June 15, 2022: Democratic former city councilmen David Alvarez (Barrio Logan) is sworn into office after winning the June 7 special election for the 80th State Assembly district to replace Gonzales
• June 20, 2022: Democratic activist and former legislative staffer Tina McKinnor (Hawthorne) is sworn into office after winning the June 7 special election for the 62nd State Assembly district to replace Burke

Leadership changes

• January 20, 2021: Republican senator Scott Wilk (21st–Santa Clarita) replaces senator Shannon Grove (16th–Bakersfield) as Senate minority leader, as Grove was ousted after she incorrectly blamed the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol on antifa.^[2]
• January 19, 2022: Democratic senator Mike McGuire (2nd-Healdsburg) replaces senator Robert Hertzberg (18th-Van Nuys) as Senate majority leader
• February 8, 2022: Republican assemblymember James Gallagher (3rd–Yuba City) replaces assemblymember Marie Waldron (75th–Valley Center) as Assembly minority leader.

Legislation

In 2022, notable laws passed included:^[3]

• A new court system for people with mental illness and addiction called the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court (CARE Court)
• AB257 for unionization of fast-food workers
• AB2011 and its companion SB6 for changing permitting processes to streamline affordable housing
• AB 2097, a ban on parking minimums for buildings within NaNmiles of public transit.^[4]
• For climate change, a variety of climate-related bills which were part of an agenda by Governor Newsom, including:
  • a bill which would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open until 2035
  • a law named the California Climate Crisis Act, AB1279,^[5] which was similar to a proposed law of the same name in 2021 which did not pass
• For reproductive rights, expanded access to abortion
• For gun reform, laws which allowed victims of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers
• A law allowing the California Medical Board to discipline doctors who promote misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination
• On plastic pollution and plastic recycling, SB54^[6] was passed which requires 65 percent of single-use plastic to be recycled by 2032;^[7] this law had been originally introduced in 2018 and had been the subject of lengthy negotiation over 4 years^[8]

In 2021, notable laws passed included:^[9]

• Several police reform laws, including SB2 which outlines a process for officers to be removed for misconduct, including facing potential civil liability
• A law to prevent wildfires through preventive measures, including through hiring more state employees
• A climate change law (AB1395) named the California Climate Crisis Act failed to pass, but a similar bill (AB1279) with the same name passed in 2022
• California HOME Act (SB9), which creates a legal process by which owners of certain single-family homes can create additional units on their property, and prohibits cities and counties from interference

State Senate

31	9
Democratic	Republican

Officers

Position		Name	Party	District
	Lieutenant Governor	Eleni Kounalakis	Democratic
	President pro tempore	Toni Atkins	Democratic	39th–San Diego
	Majority leader	Mike McGuire	Democratic	2nd-Healdsburg
	Assistant majority leader	Susan Eggman	Democratic	5th-Stockton
	Majority whip	Nancy Skinner	Democratic	9th–Berkeley
	Assistant majority whips	Maria Elena Durazo	Democratic	24th–Los Angeles
		Scott Wiener	Democratic	11th–San Francisco
	Democratic caucus chair	Connie Leyva	Democratic	20th–Chino
	Minority leader	Scott Wilk	Republican	21st–Santa Clarita
Secretary		Erika Contreras
Sergeant-at-Arms		Jodie O. Barnett III
Chaplain		Sister Michelle Gorman, RSM

The Secretary, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the chaplain are not members of the Legislature.

Members

District		Name	Party	Residence	Term-limited?	Notes
	1	Brian Dahle	Republican	Bieber
	2	Mike McGuire	Democratic	Healdsburg		Majority Leader since January 19, 2022
	3	Bill Dodd	Democratic	Napa
	4	Jim Nielsen	Republican	Red Bluff	Yes
	5	Susan Eggman	Democratic	Stockton
	6	Richard Pan	Democratic	Sacramento	Yes
	7	Steve Glazer	Democratic	Orinda
	8	Andreas Borgeas	Republican	Fresno
	9	Nancy Skinner	Democratic	Berkeley
	10	Bob Wieckowski	Democratic	Fremont	Yes
	11	Scott Wiener	Democratic	San Francisco
	12	Anna Caballero	Democratic	Salinas
	13	Josh Becker	Democratic	Menlo Park
	14	Melissa Hurtado	Democratic	Sanger
	15	Dave Cortese	Democratic	San Jose
	16	Shannon Grove	Republican	Bakersfield		Minority Leader March 1, 2019 to January 20, 2021
	17	John Laird	Democratic	Carmel
	18	Robert Hertzberg	Democratic	Van Nuys	Yes	Majority Leader January 7, 2019 to January 19, 2022
	19	Monique Limón	Democratic	Santa Barbara
	20	Connie Leyva	Democratic	Chino
	21	Scott Wilk	Republican	Santa Clarita		Minority Leader since January 20, 2021
	22	Susan Rubio	Democratic	Baldwin Park
	23	Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh	Republican	Yucaipa
	24	Maria Elena Durazo	Democratic	Los Angeles
	25	Anthony Portantino	Democratic	La Cañada Flintridge
	26	Ben Allen	Democratic	Santa Monica
	27	Henry Stern	Democratic	Malibu
	28	Melissa Melendez	Republican	Lake	Yes
	29		Democratic	Fullerton
	30	Vacant from December 7, 2020 to March 11, 2021
		Sydney Kamlager	Democratic	Los Angeles
	31	Richard Roth	Democratic	Riverside
	32	Bob Archuleta	Democratic	Pico Rivera
	33	Lena Gonzalez	Democratic	Long Beach
	34	Tom Umberg	Democratic	Santa Ana
	35	Steven Bradford	Democratic	Gardena
	36	Patricia Bates	Republican	Laguna Niguel	Yes	Minority Leader until March 1, 2019
	37	Dave Min	Democratic	Irvine
	38	Brian Jones	Republican	Santee
	39	Toni Atkins	Democratic	San Diego		President pro tempore
	40	Ben Hueso	Democratic	San Diego	Yes

State Assembly

59	1	19
Democratic	I	Republican

Officers

Position		Name	Party	District
	Speaker	Anthony Rendon	Democratic	63rd–Lakewood
	Speaker pro tempore	Kevin Mullin	Democratic	22nd–South San Francisco
	Assistant speaker pro tempore	Mia Bonta	Democratic	18th–Alameda
	Majority leader	Eloise Reyes	Democratic	47th–Grand Terrace
	Assistant majority leader	Chris Ward	Democratic	78th–San Diego
	Assistant majority leader for policy and research	Tasha Boerner Horvath	Democratic	76th–Encinitas
	Democratic caucus chair	Mike Gipson	Democratic	64th–Carson
	Republican leader	James Gallagher	Republican	3rd–Yuba City
Acting Chief Clerk		Sue Parker
Acting Chief Sergeant-at-Arms		Alisa Buckley
Chaplain		Imam Mohammad "Yasir" Khan

The Chief Clerk, the acting Chief Sergeant-at-Arms, and the chaplain are not members of the Legislature.

Members

District		Name	Party	Residence	Term-limited?	Notes
	1	Megan Dahle	Republican	Bieber
	2	Jim Wood	Democratic	Santa Rosa
	3	James Gallagher	Republican	Yuba City		Minority leader since February 8, 2022
	4	Cecilia Aguiar-Curry	Democratic	Winters
	5	Frank Bigelow	Republican	O'Neals
	6	Kevin Kiley	Republican	Rocklin
	7	Kevin McCarty	Democratic	Sacramento
	8	Ken Cooley	Democratic	Rancho Cordova
	9	Jim Cooper	Democratic	Elk Grove
	10	Marc Levine	Democratic	Greenbrae
	11	Jim Frazier	Democratic	Discovery Bay		Resigned on December 31, 2021
		Vacant from December 31, 2021 to April 6, 2022
		Lori Wilson	Democratic	Suisun City
	12	Heath Flora	Republican	Ripon
	13	Carlos Villapudua	Democratic	Stockton
	14	Tim Grayson	Democratic	Concord
	15	Buffy Wicks	Democratic	Oakland
	16	Rebecca Bauer-Kahan	Democratic	Orinda
	17	David Chiu	Democratic	San Francisco		Resigned on October 31, 2021, to become City Attorney of San Francisco
		Vacant from October 31, 2021 to May 3, 2022
			Democratic	San Francisco
	18	Rob Bonta	Democratic	Alameda		Resigned on April 22, 2021, to become Attorney General of California
		Vacant from April 22, 2021, to September 7, 2021
		Mia Bonta	Democratic	Alameda
	19	Phil Ting	Democratic	San Francisco
	20	Bill Quirk	Democratic	Hayward
	21	Adam Gray	Democratic	Merced
	22	Kevin Mullin	Democratic	South San Francisco
	23	Jim Patterson	Republican	Fresno
	24	Marc Berman	Democratic	Palo Alto
	25	Alex Lee	Democratic	San Jose
	26	Devon Mathis	Republican	Visalia
	27	Ash Kalra	Democratic	San Jose
	28	Evan Low	Democratic	Campbell
	29	Mark Stone	Democratic	Scotts Valley
	30	Robert Rivas	Democratic	Hollister
	31	Joaquin Arambula	Democratic	Fresno
	32	Rudy Salas	Democratic	Bakersfield
	33	Thurston Smith	Republican	Hesperia
	34	Vince Fong	Republican	Bakersfield
	35	Jordan Cunningham	Republican	Paso Robles
	36	Tom Lackey	Republican	Palmdale
	37	Steve Bennett	Democratic	Ojai
	38	Suzette Martinez Valladares	Republican	Santa Clarita
	39	Luz Rivas	Democratic	North Hollywood
	40	James Ramos	Democratic	Highland
	41	Chris Holden	Democratic	Pasadena
	42	Chad Mayes	Independent	Yucca Valley
	43	Laura Friedman	Democratic	Glendale
	44	Jacqui Irwin	Democratic	Thousand Oaks
	45	Jesse Gabriel	Democratic	Encino
	46	Adrin Nazarian	Democratic	North Hollywood
	47	Eloise Reyes	Democratic	Grand Terrace
	48	Blanca Rubio	Democratic	Baldwin Park
	49	Ed Chau	Democratic	Arcadia		Resigned on December 10, 2021, to become a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court
		Vacant from December 10, 2021 to February 22, 2022
		Mike Fong	Democratic	Alhambra
	50	Richard Bloom	Democratic	Santa Monica
	51	Wendy Carrillo	Democratic	Boyle Heights
	52	Freddie Rodriguez	Democratic	Pomona
	53	Miguel Santiago	Democratic	Los Angeles
	54	Sydney Kamlager	Democratic	Los Angeles		Resigned on March 11, 2021, to assume seat in the California State Senate
		Vacant from March 11, 2021, to May 28, 2021
		Isaac Bryan	Democratic	Los Angeles
	55	Phillip Chen	Republican	Yorba Linda
	56	Eduardo Garcia	Democratic	Coachella
	57	Lisa Calderon	Democratic	Whittier
	58	Cristina Garcia	Democratic	Bell Gardens
	59	Reggie Jones-Sawyer	Democratic	Los Angeles
	60	Sabrina Cervantes	Democratic	Riverside
	61	Jose Medina	Democratic	Riverside
	62	Autumn Burke	Democratic	Marina del Rey		Resigned on January 31, 2022
		Vacant from January 31, 2022 to June 20, 2022
		Tina McKinnor	Democratic	Hawthorne
	63	Anthony Rendon	Democratic	Lakewood		Speaker
	64	Mike Gipson	Democratic	Carson
	65	Sharon Quirk-Silva	Democratic	Fullerton
	66	Al Muratsuchi	Democratic	Rolling Hills Estates
	67	Kelly Seyarto	Republican	Murrieta
	68	Steven Choi	Republican	Irvine
	69	Tom Daly	Democratic	Anaheim
	70	Patrick O'Donnell	Democratic	Long Beach
	71	Randy Voepel	Republican	Santee
	72	Janet Nguyen	Republican	Huntington Beach
	73	Laurie Davies	Republican	Laguna Niguel
	74	Cottie Petrie-Norris	Democratic	Laguna Beach
	75	Marie Waldron	Republican	Escondido		Minority leader from November 8, 2021, to February 8, 2022
	76	Tasha Boerner Horvath	Democratic	Encinitas
	77	Brian Maienschein	Democratic	San Diego
	78	Chris Ward	Democratic	San Diego
	79	Shirley Weber	Democratic	San Diego		Resigned on January 28, 2021, to become Secretary of State of California
		Vacant from January 28, 2021, to April 19, 2021
		Akilah Weber	Democratic	La Mesa
	80	Lorena Gonzalez	Democratic	San Diego		Resigned on January 5, 2022 to become head of the California Labor Federation
		Vacant from January 5, 2022 to June 15, 2022
		David Alvarez	Democratic	Barrio Logan

See also

• List of California state legislatures

External links

• California State Senate
• California State Assembly

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021 Legislative Deadlines Assembly Internet. January 1, 2021. www.assembly.ca.gov.
2. Web site: Wilk replaces Grove as California Senate GOP leader. White. Jeremy B.. January 20, 2021. January 28, 2021. Politico.
3. Web site: Hooks . Chris Nichols, Nicole Nixon, Kris . Here are the major bills passed by California lawmakers in 2022 . 2023-01-17 . www.capradio.org.
4. News: Weinberg . Abigail . 23 September 2022 . California just struck a major blow to car culture . 28 September 2022 . Mother Jones.
5. Web site: Governor Newsom signs Assemblymember Muratsuchi's AB 1279, the California Climate Crisis Act Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi Representing the 66th California Assembly District . 2023-01-17 . a66.asmdc.org.
6. Web site: Bill Text - SB-54 Solid waste: reporting, packaging, and plastic food service ware. . 2023-01-17 . leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
7. Web site: Sheldon . Marissa . 2022-08-02 . California Passes Law to Eliminate Single-Use Plastics . 2023-01-17 . NYC Food Policy Center (Hunter College) . en-US.
8. Web site: Landmark single-use plastics bill to set tough new recycling and reduction rules . 2023-01-17 . Default . en.
9. Web site: Nixon . Manola Secaira, Scott Rodd, Nicole . Here Are The Major Bills Passed By California Lawmakers In 2021 . 2023-01-17 . www.capradio.org.