NONPARTISAN SUPPORT
THE OLC EDITORIAL TEAM REVIEWS EVERY SENATE AND ASSEMBLY BILL FOR GRAMMAR, CONSISTENCY, ACCURACY, AND CONFORMITY TO LEGAL STANDARDS AND STYLE.
Contributions
Content Review, Research, Proofreading, Writing
Project Summary
I assisted the editorial team for several months during the 2018 Legislative Session.
After a bill is drafted by OLC attorneys—and before it's sent to the California State Senate, Assembly, or other interest group—the editorial team reviews every aspect to ensure conformity to language, legal, and legislative standards. This is a more complicated task than people might realize.
In addition to grammar, editorial team members must have a strong grasp of the legislative process, the legislative calendar, constitutional deadlines, and legal terminology while reviewing bills that can run hundreds of pages with a multitude of cross-referenced citations.
As editorial staff, we couldn't rewrite bills; if we saw an issue, we advised the attorneys.
However, Resolutions are non-binding motions that bestow honor or express approval/disapproval, so we were able to redraft those for clarity. I line-edited and redrafted a number of Resolutions that bestowed honor, which was a privilege.
The team reviewed 1000s of senate and assembly bills, including:
• AB-4 Voter Notification
• AB-57 National Guard: Enlistment Bonuses
• AB-133 Cannabis Regulation
• AB-287 State Highway Route 710
• AB-390 Pedestrian Crossing Signals
• AB-737 California Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• AB-950 Charter Schools
• AB-1212 Hazardous Materials: Chemicals
• AB-1584 Criminal Law: DNA Collection
• AB-2896 Fire Prevention: State Parks
• SB-17 Health Care: Prescription Drug Costs
• SB-173 Real Estate: Bureau of Real Estate
• SB-265 Disaster Relief
• SB-308 Oil and Gas: Definitions
• SB-451 Common Interest Developments
• SB-673 Pet Lover's Specialized License Plates
• SB-980 High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
• SB-1235 Commercial Financing: Disclosures
• SB-1409 Industrial Hemp
• SB-1511 Family Law Omnibus Bill
Result
Helped review thousands of bills and maintain the high legislative standards of one of the most influential states in the country.