SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - On Sept. 9, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) demanded answers from the Assembly Rules Committee in the wake of several parliamentary violations that crushed debate and caused chaos at the end of the 2024 legislative session. 

In the final hours of the session, Democrats illegally amended the Assembly’s rules to limit debate on bills to just 30 seconds per person and refused to recognize multiple Republican lawmakers attempting to speak on behalf of their constituents. Additionally, Democrats repeatedly and improperly ignored motions to permanently adjourn the special session convened to take up Gov. Newsom’s gas storage mandate proposal. 

“A vital part of a thriving democracy is fair and equitable debate. The people of California didn’t get that this year,” said Gallagher. “Californians deserve an investigation into the unlawful and undemocratic actions taken by the supermajority that silenced Republican voices and stamped out important discussions. We’re elected to provide a voice for our constituents - if Democrats continue to run the Assembly as chaotically and unfairly as they did, that can't happen. Our constituents deserve answers.” 

On top of Democrats’ actions to silence Republican lawmakers, poor time management and political squabbles led to a frantic rush to consider dozens of bills in the final minutes of the legislative session. Despite spending hours on ceremonies and speeches, adjourning early the night before, and not convening until 2:30 p.m. on the final day of session, legislators crammed through bills with little to no debate while multiple other proposals failed to meet the midnight deadline for passage. 

A copy of Gallagher’s letter to the Assembly Rules Committee calling for an investigation is available HERE.