Specific issues and bills are usually discussed multiple times in several committees before possible votes on the floor of the Assembly or Senate (for example, there are education and housing committees in both chambers). By law, the hearings are supposed to be accessible to the public.

Then, there are parts of the lawmaking process that are less than fully transparent. For instance: the dreaded and mysterious “suspense file,” where bills are killed by the appropriations committees — often with very little, if any, explanation. 

Also, keep an eye out for budget “trailer bills,” which sometimes hide major policy changes without the usual full vetting by other committees, even with recent rules that require the bills to be in print for 72 hours before a vote.

And then there’s the “gut-and-amend” strategy, in which a bill that has already passed one house is gutted and then amended with a completely different proposal or idea — often in the last days of the session and sometimes sought by a specific interest.

Finally, if a bill is eventually passed by both the Assembly and Senate and sent to the governor’s desk, it’s still subject to a veto. Of the nearly 1,200 bills approved in 2022, Gov. Newsom vetoed nearly 170.