by Ryan Sabalow and Hans Poschman
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
Landon Morrison, a recovering addict, wanted to tell California lawmakers why they should support legislation he believes will hold troubled drug and alcohol treatment centers accountable.
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He was told he would only get two minutes to speak, so he spent hours writing and rehearsing exactly what he wanted to say. But after getting on the road at 4 a.m. for the six-hour drive to Sacramento from Los Angeles County, Morrison didn’t get to say a single word because previous speakers talked for too long.
The committee’s Democratic chairperson, Sen. Caroline Menjivar of Van Nuys, ended testimony in support of the bill after five minutes.
“In a way, this kind of articulated the stigma of addiction. … I’m at the bottom of the line, you know?” Morrison said. “It was just kind of very disheartening.”
Morrison’s experience is hardly unique in the California Legislature as lawmakers try to jam through the more than 2,000 bills lawmakers have introduced so far this year. Over the past two months, CalMatters journalists witnessed more than a dozen examples of committee leaders cutting speakers off midway through their remarks or prohibiting them from talking at all because other people went over the few minutes that members of the public are given to testify.
Lawmakers say the rules are necessary to accommodate the armies of paid lobbyists, political activists and members of the public who flood the Capitol each year to jockey for and against legislation. Lawmakers say they do their best to ensure everyone gets their say while aiming to keep hearings from dragging on well into the night.
“Some bills you get dozens of people. Some bills you get over 100 people,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat representing the Palo Alto area who oversees the Business and Professions Committee. “There is a real attempt to be fair on both sides and to everybody.”
The public comment limits are yet another symptom of lawmakers rushing through thousands of bills in the few months they’re in session in Sacramento – and usually waiting until right before key deadlines to push through the largest volume of bills.
‘Me too’ speakers get only seconds
To try to fit in all those wishing to speak, most members of the public who show up at the Capitol can only express their positions through what’s known as the “me too” portion of a hearing.
After the lead witnesses in support or opposition of a bill each get to deliver two minutes of testimony, others approach the microphone and state their name, organization and whether they support or oppose it. In 2023, legislative leaders stopped allowing people to offer their comments remotely via Zoom as they had during the pandemic.
LAUGH…YOU ELECTED THEM.
UPSET? WHY?
Geez, you vote Democrat why?
Election cheating has been a huge problem for decades in California