Members of the California State Assembly are the 80 elected representatives who make up the lower chamber of the state legislature. Each one represents a single district of roughly 494,000 residents, serves a two-year term, and can hold legislative office for a lifetime total of 12 years. They write and vote on state law, pass the annual budget, and run district offices that help constituents cut through state agencies. As of December 2025, the base salary is $134,694 a year.
The 80 Seats and How Districts Are Drawn
The Assembly’s size is fixed in the state constitution at 80 seats, each tied to a geographic district with roughly equal population.1California State Assembly. Elected Officials Based on 2020 census figures, that works out to about 494,000 people per district. The number per district will shift after the 2030 census, but the 80-seat total will not.
District lines are not drawn by legislators. After voters passed Proposition 11 in 2008 and Proposition 20 in 2010, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission took over the job of redrawing Assembly, Senate, Board of Equalization, and congressional boundaries every ten years. Incumbents no longer get to pick their own voters.
Terms and the 12-Year Lifetime Limit
Assembly members serve two-year terms and stand for election every even-numbered year.1California State Assembly. Elected Officials Proposition 28, approved by voters in 2012, replaced the old split caps (three Assembly terms, two Senate terms) with a single 12-year lifetime limit on total legislative service.2Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 28 – Limits on Legislators Terms in Office A member can now use all 12 years in the Assembly (six terms), all 12 in the Senate (three terms), or any mix of the two.
The 12-year rule only applies to members first elected after June 5, 2012. Anyone who held a seat on or before that date still operates under the earlier limits. Once a member hits the cap, they are permanently barred from both chambers.3California Legislative Information. California Constitution Article IV
Salary and Benefits
Legislator pay is set by the California Citizens Compensation Commission, not by the legislature itself. The current base salary for an Assembly member is $134,694 a year.4CalHR. CCCC Salaries That places California among the highest-paying state legislatures, which reflects the fact that the job is full-time and year-round.
Members also collect a daily expense allowance, or per diem, while the legislature is in session to cover lodging and meals in Sacramento. Per diem stops during any recess longer than three days. On top of pay, members get state health, dental, and vision coverage for themselves and their families, plus retirement benefits through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).
What Assembly Members Actually Do
The core job is legislating. Any member can introduce a bill, which gets routed to one or more of the Assembly’s 32 standing committees. Some committees cover broad areas like Budget, Judiciary, and Health; others are narrower, such as Water, Parks, and Wildlife. A bill generally has to clear its policy committee, and the Appropriations Committee if it costs money, before it reaches the floor for a recorded vote.
Committee chairs, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, decide which bills get a hearing at all. A bill that never gets scheduled effectively dies, which gives the Speaker and the chairs significant control over what becomes law. The Speaker, elected by the full membership, also makes committee assignments and appoints members to state boards. The Majority and Minority Leaders run their party caucuses but hold far less procedural power.
The Session Calendar
The legislative year runs on hard deadlines. For the 2025–2026 session, nonfiscal bills must clear policy committees by May 1, fiscal bills must clear fiscal committees by May 15, and all non-urgency bills must pass out of their house of origin by May 29.5California State Assembly. Calendar A bill that misses a deadline is dead for the year. The state budget runs on its own clock: the constitution requires passage by June 15, and members lose a day’s pay for every day the budget is late.
Constituent Services
Every Assembly member keeps at least one district office staffed with caseworkers who help residents deal with state agencies. Common requests involve the DMV, unemployment and disability insurance, Medi-Cal, veterans’ benefits, and professional licensing. Caseworkers cannot overturn an agency decision, but they can push a stalled file forward or escalate it to someone with authority. For most constituents, this is the most practical thing their representative does.
Who Can Serve
Under Article IV, Section 2(c) of the California Constitution, a candidate must be a U.S. citizen, a registered voter, a California resident for at least three years before the election, and a resident of the district for at least one year before the election.3California Legislative Information. California Constitution Article IV A candidate also has to have enough remaining eligibility under the 12-year cap to serve the full term they are seeking.
How a Seat Becomes Vacant
An Assembly seat opens if the member dies, resigns, is removed, is convicted of a felony, moves out of the district, or fails to perform official duties for three straight months.6California Legislative Information. California Government Code 1770 A felony conviction creates the vacancy as soon as the trial court enters judgment, before any appeal.
When a seat opens mid-term, the governor must issue a proclamation calling a special election within 14 calendar days. The election itself is held on a Tuesday between 126 and 140 days after the proclamation. No special election is called if the vacancy occurs after the close of the nomination period in the final year of the term, since a replacement would be chosen in the regular cycle anyway.
How Members Get Elected
All 80 Assembly seats appear on the ballot in every even-numbered year. California uses a top-two open primary system under Proposition 14, approved in 2010: every candidate for a seat runs on the same primary ballot regardless of party, voters can pick anyone, and the two candidates with the most votes advance to November.7California Secretary of State. Primary Elections in California In safely partisan districts, this routinely produces November runoffs between two candidates from the same party.
Ethics Rules and Disclosure
Assembly members cannot accept gifts totaling more than $630 per calendar year from any single source, a limit that runs through 2026.8California Fair Political Practices Commission. Gifts, Honoraria, Travel Payments, and Loans Gifts from registered lobbyists are capped much tighter, at $10 per calendar month. Family members are exempt from both caps.
Every member has to file a Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700) each year, listing investments, income sources, and gifts received. The filings are public and searchable through the Fair Political Practices Commission.9California Fair Political Practices Commission. Form 700 Search
After leaving office, former members face a one-year ban on lobbying the legislature for pay. If a member resigns mid-session, the ban runs from the resignation date through one year after that session ends, which can push the restriction past 12 months.10California Legislative Information. California Government Code 87406 The ban covers formal testimony, informal conversations with sitting members, and written contact with legislative staff. Former members who take a job at another state agency or win a local elected office are exempt, since they would be representing a government body rather than a private client.
Finding and Contacting Your Member
To identify your Assembly member, use the “Find Your Representative” tool at assembly.ca.gov. Enter a home address and the site returns the member’s name, Sacramento phone number, district office locations, and a link to their official page. Every member keeps a Capitol office and at least one district office.
Most offices take input by phone, through an email contact form on the member’s site, and in person during business hours. If you are writing about a specific bill, including the bill number helps staff log your position and pass it along before a hearing or floor vote.