Isadore Hall Holds Community Swearing In

Photos by Malcolm Ali

Yesterday, Black Los Angeles came together to celebrate at my brotha from another motha Isadore Hall III’s community swearing in. Isadore replaced my old boss Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally in California’s 52nd Assembly District, which includes Compton, Watts, and Paramount. He most recently served as Mayor Pro tem for the City of Compton.

The event was held at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee’s Phoenix Room and of course was attended by most of the who’s who in Black politics including Rep. Diane Watson, State Senator Rod Wright, L.A. City Councilmember Jan Perry, CA Democratic Party Secretary Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sentinel executive editor Danny Bakewell Jr., SCLC’s Rev. Eric Lee, New Frontier Dems President Ingrid Hutt, AFL-CIO’s Yvonne Wheeler, Judge Ephriam Mablean, and more.

Highlights included performances by the students from Marcus Garvey and the choir from Compton’s Mt. Zion.

Sentinel executive publisher Danny Bakewell Sr., officiated the swearing in and KJLH 102.3 FM personality and comedian Guy Black served as emcee.

Assemblymember Hall along with State Senator Rod Wright (a returning lawmaker) are the newest members of the California Legislative Black Caucus which is comprised of the Black member of both the Assembly and Senate in California. Out of 120 members, there are only eight members of the Black caucus. 2 in the Senate and 6 in the Assembly.

About Isadore Hall III

Assemblymember Hall has held several high-ranking governmental positions in the local community.  Prior to his election, he served five years as a Compton City Councilmember where he briefly served as Mayor Pro tem and created the quarterly Business-2-Business Breakfast Roundtable which assisted in strengthening  relationships between corporate entities and small business owners.
Additionally, Hall oversaw efforts on the City Council that led to:

• A reduction in crime in the City of Compton by 50%;
• The construction of  an 80 million dollar shopping center , thereby creating 1,500 jobs
• The construction of a 25 million dollar senior center

He also served as a representative on the Metropolitan Water Board, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, the Southern California Association of Governments and the Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees where he served two consecutive terms as president.

POLITICS 101

What is an Assemblymember

An Assemblymember, aka as lawmaker, legislator and other names that I won’t mention here, lol, are responsible for making the laws that govern the State of California. They work in concert with their counterparts in the California’s Senate who have their say before it goes to the governor for signature or veto.

About California’s State Legislature

The California State Legislature, one of the three branches of California’s state government, the other two being judicial (the courts) and executive (the governor), consists of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members.

New legislators or lawmakers (Assemblymembers and Senators) convene each new two-year session, to organize, in the Assembly Chambers at noon on the first Monday in December following a state election. After the organizational meeting, both houses are in recess until the first Monday in January, except when the first Monday is January 1 or January 1 is a Sunday, in which case they meet the following Wednesday.

The State Legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

The California State Legislature currently has a Democratic majority, with the Senate consisting of 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans; and the Assembly having 51 Democrats and 29 Republicans.

Members of the Assembly are elected from eighty districts, serve two year terms, and since 1990 are limited to being elected three times.

How Legislation Becomes Law

A bill is a proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law. An Assembly Bill (AB) is one introduced in the Assembly; a Senate Bill (SB), in the Senate.

Bills are designated by number, in the order of introduction in each house. For example, AB 16 refers to the sixteenth bill introduced in the Assembly. The numbering starts afresh each session. The name of the author, the legislator who introduced the bill, becomes part of the title.

The legislative procedure, is divided into distinct stages:

Drafting
The procedure begins when a Senator or Assembly Member decides to author a bill. A legislator sends the idea for the bill to the California Office of the Legislative Counsel, where it is drafted into bill form. The draft of the bill is returned to the legislator for introduction.

Introduction or First Reading
A bill is introduced or read the first time when the bill number, the name of the author, and the descriptive title of the bill are read on the floor of the house. The bill is then sent to the Office of State Publishing. No bill except the Budget Bill may be acted upon until 30 days have passed from the date of its introduction.

Committee hearing
After introduction, a bill goes to the rules committee of the house, where it is assigned to the appropriate policy committee, appropriate to the subject matter, for its first hearing. During the committee hearing the author presents the bill to the committee, and testimony may be heard in support or opposition to the bill. The committee then votes on whether to pass the bill out of committee, or that it be passed as amended. Bills may be amended several times. It takes a majority vote of the committee membership for a bill to be passed and sent to the next committee or to the floor.

Fiscal committee
If the bill which contains an appropriation or has financial implications for the state.

Second reading
A bill recommended for passage by committee is read a second time on the floor of the house. Ordinarily there is little or no debate. If a bill is amended at this stage, it may be referred back for another committee hearing.

Floor vote
A roll call vote is taken. An ordinary bill needs a majority vote to pass . An urgency bill or a bill with fiscal implications requires a two-thirds vote.

Second house
If it receives a favorable vote in the first house, a bill repeats the same steps in the other house. If the second house passes the bill without changing it, it is sent to the governor’s desk.

Resolution of Differences (concurrence or conference)
If a measure is amended in the second house and passed, it is returned to the house of origin for consideration of amendments. The house of origin may concur with the amendments and send the bill to the governor or reject the amendments and submit it to a two-house conference committee. If either house rejects the conference report, a second (and even a third) conference committee can be formed. If both houses adopt the conference report, the bill is sent to the governor.

Governor’s action
Within 12 days after receiving a bill, the governor may sign it into law, allow it to become law without his/her signature, or veto it.

Overrides
A vetoed bill is returned to the house of origin, where a vote may be taken to override the governor’s veto; a two-thirds vote of both houses is required to override a veto.

California Law and effective date
Each bill that is passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor is assigned a chapter number by the Secretary of State. These chaptered bills are statutes, and ordinarily become part of the California Codes. Ordinarily a law passed during a regular session takes effect January 1 of the following year. A few statutes go into effect as soon as the governor signs them; these include acts calling for elections and urgency measures necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.

Click here to find out who represents you in California’s Assembly and Senate.