California State Legislature, 2015–2016 session explained

2015–2016 session of the California State Legislature
Body:	California State Legislature
State:	California
Term Start:	December 1, 2014
Term End:	November 30, 2016
Before:	2013–2014
After:	2017–2018
Chamber1:	Senate
Membership1:	40
Control1:	Democratic
Chamber1 Leader1 Type:	President of the Senate
Chamber1 Leader1:	Gavin Newsom (D) Dec. 1, 2014 – Nov. 30, 2016
Chamber1 Leader2 Type:	President pro tempore
Chamber1 Leader2:	Kevin de León (D–24th) Dec. 1, 2014 – Nov. 30, 2016
Chamber1 Leader3 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber1 Leader3:	Bob Huff (R–29th) Dec. 1, 2014 – Aug. 27, 2015 Jean Fuller (R–16th) Aug. 27, 2015 – Nov. 30, 2016
Chamber2:	Assembly
Membership2:	80
Control2:	Democratic
Chamber2 Leader1 Type:	Speaker
Chamber2 Leader1:	Toni Atkins (D–78th) Dec. 1, 2014 – Mar. 7, 2016 Anthony Rendon (D–63rd) Mar. 7, 2016 – Nov. 30, 2016
Chamber2 Leader2 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber2 Leader2:	Kristin Olsen (R–12th) Dec. 1, 2014 – Jan. 4, 2016 Chad Mayes (R–42nd) Jan. 4, 2016 – Nov. 30, 2016

The 2015–2016 session was a session of the California State Legislature. The session first convened on December 1, 2014, and adjourned sine die on November 30, 2016.

Major events

Vacancies and special elections

• September 22, 2014: Democratic senator Rod Wright (35th–Inglewood) resigns to serve a jail sentence after conviction for perjury and voter fraud.^[1]
• December 10, 2014: Former Democratic assemblyman Isadore Hall, III of Compton is sworn into office after winning the December 9 special election for the 35th State Senate district to replace Wright.^[2]
• January 2, 2015: Democratic senator Mark DeSaulnier (7th–Concord) resigns to take a seat in Congress.^[3]
• January 3, 2015: Republican senator Mimi Walters (37th–Irvine) resigns to take a seat in Congress.
• January 5, 2015: Republican senator Steve Knight (21st–Palmdale) resigns to take a seat in Congress.
• March 19, 2015: Former Republican senator Sharon Runner of Lancaster is sworn into office after winning the March 17 special election for the 21st State Senate district to replace Knight.^[4]
• March 22, 2015: Former Republican county supervisor John Moorlach of Costa Mesa is sworn into office after winning the March 17 special election for the 37th State Senate district to replace Walters.^[5]
• May 28, 2015: Former Orinda mayor Steve Glazer is sworn into office after winning the May 19 special election for the 7th State Senate district to replace DeSaulnier.^[6]
• December 31, 2015: Democratic assemblymember Henry Perea resigns to become senior director of state advocacy for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.^{[7] [8]}
• July 14, 2016: Republican senator Sharon Runner (21st–Lancaster) dies of respiratory complications related to scleroderma

Leadership changes

• August 27, 2015: Republican senator Jean Fuller (16th–Bakersfield) replaces senator Bob Huff (29th–San Dimas) as Senate minority leader, as Huff is termed out at the end of the session.^[9]
• January 4, 2016: Republican assemblymember Chad Mayes (42nd–Yucca Valley) replaces assemblymember Kristin Olsen (12th–Modesto) as Assembly minority leader, as Olsen is termed out at the end of the session.^[10]
• March 7, 2016: Democratic assemblymember Anthony Rendon (63rd–Lakewood) replaces assemblymember Toni Atkins (78th–San Diego) as speaker, as Atkins is termed out at the end of the session.^[11]

Party changes

Senate

26	1	13
Democratic	Vacant	Republican

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Democratic	Republican		Vacant	Suspended
End of previous legislature		25	12	37	1	2
Begin		25	14	39	1	0
December 10, 2014		26		40	0
January 2, 2015	25	39		1
January 3, 2015		13	38	2
January 5, 2015		12	37	3
March 19, 2015		13	38	2
March 22, 2015		14	39	1
May 28, 2015	26		40	0
July 14, 2016		13	39	1
Latest voting share

Officers

Position		Name	Party	District
	Lieutenant Governor	Gavin Newsom	Democratic
	President pro tempore	Kevin de León	Democratic	24th–Los Angeles
	Majority leader	Bill Monning	Democratic	17th–Carmel
	Majority whip	Lois Wolk	Democratic	3rd–Davis
	Majority caucus chair	Connie Leyva	Democratic	20th–Chino
	Majority caucus vice chair	Mike McGuire	Democratic	2nd–Healdsburg
	Minority leader	Jean Fuller	Republican	16th–Bakersfield
	Minority caucus chair	Tom Berryhill	Republican	8th–Twain Harte
	Minority caucus whip	Ted Gaines	Republican	1st–El Dorado Hills
	Minority caucus assistant whip	Patricia Bates	Republican	36th–Laguna Niguel
Secretary		Daniel Alvarez
Sergeant-at-Arms		Debbie Manning
Chaplain		Sister Michelle Gorman

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

Members

District		Name	Party	Residence	Term-limited?	Notes
	1	Ted Gaines	Republican	El Dorado Hills
	2	Mike McGuire	Democratic	Healdsburg
	3	Lois Wolk	Democratic	Davis	Yes
	4	Jim Nielsen	Republican	Gerber
	5	Cathleen Galgiani	Democratic	Stockton
	6	Richard Pan	Democratic	Sacramento
	7	Mark DeSaulnier	Democratic	Concord	Yes	Resigned on January 2, 2015
		Vacant from January 2, 2015, to May 28, 2015
		Steve Glazer	Democratic	Orinda		Sworn into office on May 28, 2015
	8	Tom Berryhill	Republican	Twain Harte
	9	Loni Hancock	Democratic	Berkeley	Yes
	10	Bob Wieckowski	Democratic	Fremont
	11	Mark Leno	Democratic	San Francisco	Yes
	12	Anthony Cannella	Republican	Ceres
	13	Jerry Hill	Democratic	San Mateo
	14	Andy Vidak	Republican	Hanford
	15	Jim Beall	Democratic	San Jose
	16	Jean Fuller	Republican	Bakersfield		Minority leader since August 27, 2015
	17	Bill Monning	Democratic	Carmel
	18	Robert Hertzberg	Democratic	Van Nuys
	19	Hannah-Beth Jackson	Democratic	Santa Barbara
	20	Connie Leyva	Democratic	Chino
	21	Steve Knight	Republican	Palmdale		Resigned on January 5, 2015
		Vacant from January 5, 2015, to March 19, 2015
		Sharon Runner	Republican	Lancaster		Sworn into office on March 19, 2015, died July 14, 2016
		Vacant from July 14, 2016, to November 30, 2016
	22	Ed Hernandez	Democratic	West Covina
	23	Mike Morrell	Republican	Rancho Cucamonga
	24	Kevin de León	Democratic	Los Angeles		President pro tempore
	25	Carol Liu	Democratic	La Cañada Flintridge	Yes
	26	Ben Allen	Democratic	Santa Monica
	27	Fran Pavley	Democratic	Agoura Hills	Yes
	28	Jeff Stone	Republican	Temecula
	29	Bob Huff	Republican	San Dimas	Yes	Minority leader from January 5, 2012, to August 27, 2015
	30	Holly Mitchell	Democratic	Los Angeles
	31	Richard Roth	Democratic	Riverside
	32	Tony Mendoza	Democratic	Artesia
	33	Ricardo Lara	Democratic	Bell Gardens
	34	Janet Nguyen	Republican	Garden Grove
	35	Vacant from September 22, 2014, to December 10, 2014
		Isadore Hall, III	Democratic	Compton		Sworn into office on December 10, 2014
	36	Patricia Bates	Republican	Laguna Niguel
	37	Mimi Walters	Republican	Irvine		Resigned on January 3, 2015
		Vacant from January 3, 2015, to March 22, 2015
		John Moorlach	Republican	Costa Mesa		Sworn into office on March 22, 2015
	38	Joel Anderson	Republican	Alpine
	39	Marty Block	Democratic	San Diego
	40	Ben Hueso	Democratic	San Diego

Assembly

52	28
Democratic	Republican

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)	Total
Democratic	Republican	Vacant
End of previous legislature		55	24	79	1
Begin		52	28	80	0
December 31, 2015		51		79	1
April 14, 2016		52		80	0
Latest voting share

Officers

Position		Name	Party	District
	Speaker	Anthony Rendon	Democratic	63rd–Lakewood
	Speaker emeritus	Toni Atkins	Democratic	78th–San Diego
	Speaker pro tempore	Kevin Mullin	Democratic	22nd–South San Francisco
	Assistant speaker pro tempore	Autumn Burke	Democratic	62nd–Marina del Rey
	Majority floor leader	Ian Calderon	Democratic	57th–Whittier
	Assistant majority floor leader	Jim Cooper	Democratic	9th–Elk Grove
	Majority whip	Miguel Santiago	Democratic	53rd–Los Angeles
	Democratic whip	Nora Campos	Democratic	27th–San Jose
	Assistant majority whip	Evan Low	Democratic	28th–Campbell
	Majority caucus chair	Mike Gipson	Democratic	64th–Carson
	Minority leader	Chad Mayes	Republican	42nd–Yucca Valley
	Assistant minority leaders	Frank Bigelow	Republican	5th–O'Neals
		Jay Obernolte	Republican	33rd–Big Bear Lake
		Kristin Olsen	Republican	12th–Riverbank
	Minority caucus chair	Brian Jones	Republican	71st–Santee
	Minority floor leader	Marie Waldron	Republican	75th–Escondido
	Deputy minority floor leader	Bill Brough	Republican	73rd–Dana Point
	Chief minority whip	James Gallagher	Republican	3rd–Nicolaus
	Minority whips	Ling Ling Chang	Republican	55th–Diamond Bar
		Beth Gaines	Republican	6th–Roseville
Chief Clerk		E. Dotson Wilson
Sergeant-at-Arms		Ronald Pane
Chaplain		Father Constantine Papademos

The Chief Clerk, 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	Jim Wood	Democratic	Healdsburg
	3	James Gallagher	Republican	Nicolaus
	4	Bill Dodd	Democratic	Napa
	5	Frank Bigelow	Republican	O'Neals
	6	Beth Gaines	Republican	El Dorado Hills	Yes
	7	Kevin McCarty	Democratic	Sacramento
	8	Ken Cooley	Democratic	Rancho Cordova
	9	Jim Cooper	Democratic	Elk Grove
	10	Marc Levine	Democratic	San Rafael
	11	Jim Frazier	Democratic	Oakley
	12	Kristin Olsen	Republican	Riverbank	Yes	Minority leader from December 1, 2014, to January 4, 2016
	13	Susan Eggman	Democratic	Stockton
	14	Susan Bonilla	Democratic	Concord	Yes
	15	Tony Thurmond	Democratic	Richmond
	16	Catharine Baker	Republican	Dublin
	17	David Chiu	Democratic	San Francisco
	18	Rob 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	Rich Gordon	Democratic	Menlo Park	Yes
	25	Kansen Chu	Democratic	San Jose
	26	Devon Mathis	Republican	Visalia
	27	Nora Campos	Democratic	San Jose	Yes
	28	Evan Low	Democratic	Campbell
	29	Mark Stone	Democratic	Scotts Valley
	30	Luis Alejo	Democratic	Salinas	Yes
	31	Henry Perea	Democratic	Fresno	Yes	Resigned on December 31, 2015
		Vacant from December 31, 2015, to April 14, 2016
		Joaquin Arambula	Democratic	Kingsburg		Sworn into office on April 14, 2016
	32	Rudy Salas	Democratic	Bakersfield
	33	Jay Obernolte	Republican	Big Bear Lake
	34	Shannon Grove	Republican	Bakersfield	Yes
	35	Katcho Achadjian	Republican	San Luis Obispo	Yes
	36	Tom Lackey	Republican	Palmdale
	37	Das Williams	Democratic	Carpinteria	Yes
	38	Scott Wilk	Republican	Santa Clarita
	39	Patty Lopez	Democratic	San Fernando
	40	Marc Steinorth	Republican	Rancho Cucamonga
	41	Chris Holden	Democratic	Pasadena
	42	Chad Mayes	Republican	Yucca Valley		Minority leader since January 4, 2016
	43	Mike Gatto	Democratic	Los Angeles	Yes
	44	Jacqui Irwin	Democratic	Thousand Oaks
	45	Matt Dababneh	Democratic	Encino
	46	Adrin Nazarian	Democratic	Sherman Oaks
	47	Cheryl Brown	Democratic	Rialto
	48	Roger Hernandez	Democratic	West Covina	Yes
	49	Ed Chau	Democratic	Monterey Park
	50	Richard Bloom	Democratic	Santa Monica
	51	Jimmy Gomez	Democratic	Echo Park
	52	Freddie Rodriguez	Democratic	Pomona
	53	Miguel Santiago	Democratic	Los Angeles
	54	Sebastian Ridley-Thomas	Democratic	Los Angeles
	55	Ling Ling Chang	Republican	Diamond Bar
	56	Eduardo Garcia	Democratic	Coachella
	57	Ian Calderon	Democratic	Whittier
	58	Cristina Garcia	Democratic	Bell Gardens
	59	Reggie Jones-Sawyer	Democratic	Los Angeles
	60	Eric Linder	Republican	Corona
	61	Jose Medina	Democratic	Riverside
	62	Autumn Burke	Democratic	Marina del Rey
	63	Anthony Rendon	Democratic	Lakewood		Speaker since March 7, 2016
	64	Mike Gipson	Democratic	Carson
	65	Young Kim	Republican	Fullerton
	66	David Hadley	Republican	Manhattan Beach
	67	Melissa Melendez	Republican	Lake Elsinore
	68	Don Wagner	Republican	Irvine	Yes
	69	Tom Daly	Democratic	Anaheim
	70	Patrick O'Donnell	Democratic	Long Beach
	71	Brian Jones	Republican	Santee	Yes
	72	Travis Allen	Republican	Huntington Beach
	73	Bill Brough	Republican	Dana Point
	74	Matthew Harper	Republican	Huntington Beach
	75	Marie Waldron	Republican	Escondido
	76	Rocky Chavez	Republican	Oceanside
	77	Brian Maienschein	Republican	San Diego
	78	Toni Atkins	Democratic	San Diego	Yes	Speaker from December 1, 2014, to March 7, 2016
	79	Shirley Weber	Democratic	San Diego
	80	Lorena Gonzalez	Democratic	San Diego

See also

• List of California state legislatures

External links

• California State Senate
• California State Assembly

Notes and References

1. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20140917-5021.PDF Wednesday, September 17, 2014 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . September 26, 2014 . Sacramento, California . 5029 . PDF.
2. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20141215-19.PDF Monday, December 15, 2014 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . January 8, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 19 . PDF.
3. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20150105-29.PDF Monday, January 5, 2015 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . January 8, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 31 . PDF.
4. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20150319-351.PDF Thursday, March 19, 2015 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . March 21, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 353 . PDF.
5. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20150323-367.PDF Monday, March 23, 2015 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . March 23, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 369 . PDF.
6. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20150528-1111.PDF Thursday, May 28, 2015 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . July 20, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 1115 . PDF.
7. News: White . Jeremy . Henry T. Perea takes job with pharmaceutical industry group . January 12, 2016 . Fresno Bee . December 22, 2015.
8. Web site: Monday, January 4, 2016 . Assembly Daily Journal . . January 4, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 3299 . PDF.
9. Web site: [ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/senate-journal/sen-journal-0x-20150827-2187.PDF Thursday, August 27, 2015 ]. Senate Daily Journal . . January 12, 2016 . Sacramento, California . 2198 . PDF.
10. Web site: Monday, January 4, 2016 . Assembly Daily Journal . . January 4, 2015 . Sacramento, California . 3303 . PDF.
11. Web site: Monday, March 7, 2016 . Assembly Daily Journal . . November 30, 2016 . Sacramento, California . 3840 . PDF.