Saturday, December 15th, will mark the 163rd anniversary of the first meeting of the California Legislature.
Back in 1849, the Legislature (which included 16 State Senators and 36 Assemblymembers, all nonpartisan) met in a building in San Jose. The big issues of the day were selecting a permanent capital city for the state (they chose Vallejo), and establishing the various constitutional officers for the state.
Since then, 1,140 people have served in the State Senate and 3,712 in the Assembly. The legislators have included members of a wide variety of parties, including the American, Anti-Lecompton Bell & Everett, Breckinridge Democratic, Democratic, Douglas Democratic, Fusion, Greenback, Independence League, Independent, Independent Democratic, People’s, Progressive, Prohibition, Socialist, Republican, Union, Union Democratic, Union Labor, Whig, and Workingmen Parties.
Happy Birthday!