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California lawmakers have passed a bill that will change portions of the state elections code that will, in theory, speed up the recall election process.
Late Monday night, Newsom signed SB 152, which lets state officials bypass one of the steps of certifying the recall election: cost estimation. Under the previous law, the Department of Finance was to issue a cost estimate, after which the Joint Legislative Budget Committee had 30 days to review and comment on the costs. Both the review by finance and the review by lawmakers were steps put into place less than four years ago by Democratic lawmakers, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The bill lawmakers passed Monday is in contrast to the measures passed four years ago, when Democrats adjusted the recall rules to help State Sen. Josh Newman’s odds of surviving a recall. At that time in 2017, lawmakers were looking to extend the timeline of certifying the recall election for the ballot, and added the review period that they’re now trying to bypass.