Research Guides: Government Information and Resources: State of California

Find State Agencies

State Agencies Searchable Directory
Alphabetical List of CA state agencies and their websites
California State Agencies Alphabetical Listing
State Agency Databases
Click on California. List of databases created by state agencies, in alphabetical order aby agency. Curated by professional ALA librarians who specialize in government information (GODORT).
Agency Reports
Agency Reports provides information about reports by various state and local agencies that are required or requested to be submitted to the Legislature, the Governor, or both. Information about the reports is processed by the Legislative Counsel and is updated on a continual basis.
Department of Education
Department of Food and Agriculture
Commission on Judicial Performance
Building Standards Commission
Air Resource Board
CA.gov
California state government portal.

Elected State Officials

In addition to the Governor, the state Constitution requires the election of seven other statewide officials. Those offices are:

Office of the Governor
The official page of the Governor of California. Includes current press releases, proclomations, executive orders, information on current political issues, and selected speeches of the governor. The Governor's Gallery contains brief biographical descriptions.
Lieutenant Governor
Information on the role of the California Lieutenant Governor, a history of the office, and links to web sites of other state's lieutenant governors.
Attorney General
Main page for the California Department of Justice. Includes published opinions, full-text publications, criminal statistics, and much more.
Treasurer
Information on California's investment portfolio, California bond programs, state credit rating histories, and more.
Controller
Office responsible for economic policy development, state and local financial management, and protection of taxpayer dollars. Includes important online publications, e.g the California Counties Annual Report.
Insurance Commissioner
"Designed to assist consumers, aid in the licensing of insurance agents or brokers, and serve as a source of information on the laws that regulate the insurance industry."
Board of Equalization
Responsible for state sales, fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and other taxes. Online forms are available.

California Legislature

California State Assembly
Biographical information, committee assignments, legislative calendars, organization of the legislature, maps of Assembly districts, demographic information, and find out who your assemblyperson is.
California State Senate
Biographical information, committee assignments, legislative calendars, Senator's homepages, maps of Senate districts, and demographic information.
Legislative Publications

Researching Legislators and their Legislation

California Assembly (including the Senate) Districts
Legislator pages
Project Vote Smart
Search for your candidate by name. Includes voting record, issue positions and interest group ratings.
District maps from the California Voter Foundation
As linked to by the Secretary of State
California Bill Information
Search by bill number to find status, history, and analysis.

Bills

A Bill is a legislative proposal that if passed by both the Assembly and the Senate and approved by the Governor becomes law. Each bill is assigned a bill number. A denotes bills that originate in the Assembly and S denotes bills that originate in the Senate. Note: older bills (1867 - 1994) are available at the San Diego County Public Law Library.

*New* Bill Information site (1999-present)
Searchable database of information about all bills, including bill text, bill history and committee analyses if available.
Bill Information (1993-present)
Searchable database of information about all bills, including bill text, bill history and committee analyses if available.
Bill Tracking from the California Chamber of Commerce
Legislative Index
Latest only online. Detailed subject index to all bills. Does not include a list of bills or bill history. For earlier years, see the Final History (1893-1972), below.
Histories and Indexes (1881-2005)
Final History include detailed bill history information. Organized by bill number. Also includes voice vote information. Earlier years (1893-1972) include subject index. (Hint: Click on the active PDF document.)

Laws - Statutes

Statutes
Called "chapters" in California, statutes are the session laws as they were written at the time of passage. The Statutes of California is in chronological order as enacted, with no subject arrangement or indication whether a subsequent statute has amended or repealed a prior one.

California State Constitution
Searchable with a table of contents.
California State Code
The Code is the body of law still in force, arranged by subject (eg Health and Safety Code).Full-text online access to California's 29 codes, covering various subject areas.
California Statutes (1850-2008)
Full-text access to California Statutes, 1850-1996.
Digest of Legislation (1995 - present)
Detailed listing of all bills with basic subject indexing. Includes summary of bill and later years include outcome (e.g. Vetoed by Governor). Enter Digest of Legislation in the searchbox to find the year you seek.

Regulations

Barclay's Official California Code of Regulations
Online.
California Regulatory Notice Register (2002-present)
The Notice Register contains notices of proposed regulatory actions by state regulatory agencies to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations contained in the California Code of Regulations. Published every Friday.

Kennedy Library Databases Useful For State Information

RAND California This link opens in a new window
RAND California provides information, research reports and statistics on the California economy and public policy issues, as well as access to selected policy reports, statistics, and information at the national and international scale.
Field (California) Poll This link opens in a new window
The Field Poll, or California Poll, operated from 1947 to 2016 as an independent, non-partisan, media-sponsored public opinion news service, covering a wide range of political and social topics. Search and analyze Field Poll data from 1956 to 2015.
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Social Explorer provides access to the entire US Census data from 1790 to 2010, the entire American Community Survey (ACS) from 2005 to 2011 and more data from a number of sources. Users can create maps and use data visualization tools and reports to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and social change. Users can also graph and chart data, export, save, and print maps and reports, and create multi-map presentations with an interactive slideshow tool.
California Newspapers (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text from California newspapers, including the Tribune (San Luis Obispo), the San Francisco Chronicle, the Fresno Bee, the Sacramento Bee, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.