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About the Office:

Functions and Duties:
The position of Chief Clerk was created by California's first State Assembly, which convened in San Jose on December 17, 1849. The first Chief Clerk was E.H. Tharp, who performed mostly clerical duties such as placing bills on the Members' desks and keeping minutes of each day's Floor session. Since the 1800's, the Chief Clerk's responsibilities have grown tremendously. At one time, the Chief Clerk even acted as the Chief Administrative Officer (C.A.O.) of the Assembly, a duty which is now performed by the C.A.O. of the Assembly Rules Committee. The Chief Clerk is currently one of three nonmember, nonpartisan officers elected by the Assembly at the beginning of each two-year session.

Many of the Chief Clerk's duties are prescribed by statutes, the Rules of the Legislature, or both:

• Keeping all the bills, papers, and records of the proceedings and actions of the Assembly;
• Publishing the official documents of the House, including the Assembly Daily Journal (the minutes of each Floor session), the Assembly Daily File (the agenda), and the Assembly Daily/Weekly History (a list of all actions taken on every bill);
• The Chief Clerk is the Parliamentarian of the Assembly, advising the presiding officer on parliamentary procedure;
• Performing the actual amending of legislation;
• Providing Members an analysis, prepared by committee staff, of every bill and amendment on the Floor; engrossing legislative measures (see link below); enrolling passed measures, (see link below) and transmitting them to the Governor or Secretary of State.

The Office of Engrossing and Enrolling is responsible for preparing legislation to be printed and finalized before leaving the Assembly.

Internship Program Information:
Click here for information on our Internship Program.

A history of the Chief Clerks' Legislative Internship Program was published in the Legislative Administrator magazine (Spring 2010 edition)

Click here to view the article.

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Contact Us:
Select the following e-mail links for questions regarding:

General Information

The Assembly Daily Journal is the official record of business that has been transacted in the Assembly on a daily basis. This publication shows all roll call votes, notes parliamentary motions, lists bill introductions, and records any other official actions taken by the body.

The Assembly History shows all actions on all measures from the beginning of the legislative session and feeds the Internet bill data. The History also contains various charts, tables, and other useful information.

The Assembly Daily File is the agenda of business for each legislative day. The publication shows all committee hearing notices and all measures eligible for floor actions.

The Assembly Floor Analysis Unit is responsible for providing Members an analysis, prepared by committee staff, of every bill and amendment on the Floor.

The Assembly Informational and Committee Publications Specialist is responsible for the distribution of reports published by Assembly committees and the Chief Clerk's unofficial publications.

For ordering bills or legislative publications, contact the Legislative Bill Room at (916) 445-2323.

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