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Engrossing
and Enrolling
The
Engrossing and Enrolling Office, a division of the Chief Clerk's
Office, carries out the functions discussed in Section 32 (a), (d),
and, especially, (i) of the Standing Rules of the Assembly that
involve preparing legislation to be printed and finalized before
leaving the Assembly. These related functions are described as engrossing
and enrolling.
Engrossing consists of proofreading and editing bills, resolutions
and constitutional amendments. Four teams of two proofreaders working
in tandem proofread legislation to correct errors and conform the
text to the Government Printing Office style guidelines and the
style and procedure requirements of the Office of State Publishing.
This proofreading requires expertise in various professional terminologies,
including legal, medical, financial, and chemical terms, as well
as the scientific names of various plants and animals. There are
also experts on staff to correct Spanish text. In addition, the
proofreaders have some editing responsibilities which include verifying
that the printed text of a bill matches the officially adopted language
as amended on the Assembly floor, querying the Legislative Counsel
Deputies regarding possible content errors, and checking special
projects for the Chief Clerk's Office.
Enrolling entails the organization, coordination, and distribution
of the bills and resolutions to be printed for the Assembly. Enrolling
staff--a kind of in-house managing editorial desk--organize the
bills in numerical order as they are received from the Assembly
desk and prepare them for proofreading and printing. The enrolling
staff also maintains a temporary archive where bills, resolutions,
and constitutional amendments are stored until they pass out of
the Assembly. While legislation is being proofread, the enrolling
staff coordinates with the Governor's office, the Senate, Legislative
Counsel, the Office of State Publishing and the Bill Room to set
printing priorities, anticipate deadlines, and authorize corrections
and changes. They also monitor floor sessions to forecast Assembly
printing needs. Enrolling staff, once the proper authorizations
are received, distribute completed bills to the Governor's office
for his or her signature or veto and distribute completed resolutions
to the Secretary of State to be signed. The signed bills will then
finally be printed as sections of the California Codes. The signed
resolutions are assigned a chapter number by the Secretary of state
and printed in a paperback volume.
All Assembly bills and resolutions pass through the Engrossing and
Enrolling Office and are given a thorough check each time they are
amended by either house. Over 3000 bills, including the Budget Bill,
and 1200 joint, concurrent, and house resolutions are processed
by this office during the course of a two-year session.
Capitol Dome Photo Credit: Robert
Holmes/CalTour
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