Every election year, McGeorge Associate Dean Mary-Beth Moylan teaches the California Initiative Seminar. In it, students analyze every Proposition on the California ballot. That work culminates in the publishing of the California Initiative Review, the California Initiative Review – Initiatives At-A-Glance, and the California Initiative Forum. All of these resources are made available to the public, for free. Individual analyses of each ballot initiative can also be found on the California Initiative Review…

Sometimes, when reviewing California bills, you come across legislative findings and declarations. What are these, and are they necessary? There are essentially two schools of thought for the second question, but let’s first address what these are. Sometimes bills will contain the equivalent of what we call a preamble, or a declaration of purpose. This preamble to the bill usually consists of statements of legislative intent. In California, we call these legislative findings and declarations.…

Today I’ll consider the question of whether legislative intent language can overcome statutory language. I’ve seen instances in the California Legislature where a bill contains both statutory changes – language that adds, amends, or repeals Code Sections – as well as legislative intent statements – usually in the form of findings and declarations. In most instances, one would expect these two types of provisions to be consistent. While with a well-drafted bill it may not…