“Full House” Drought Ends

Something interesting happened at the Capitol on June 1st that went completely unnoticed; all the legislators showed up. All hundred and twenty.

Exciting, right?

That might not sound like a notable event (that is their job, isn’t it?) but in fact, it had been quite a while… nearly eight full years.

This “Full House” drought, the longest in state history, was the result of an unprecedented number of resignations (13 in the Senate and 11 in the Assembly), long illnesses, deaths, and a year-long military deployment.

Other long historic gaps in full membership had occurred, usually the result of vacant seats that remained unfilled for the duration of the term, but these rarely lasted for longer than six months.

The final vacancy, created by the resignation of a State Senator who had been elected to Congress, was filled by Steve Glazer in a May special election.

Finally, after 7 years, 10 months, and 22 days… the people of California were again fully represented at the Capitol.