How to follow the action at California's Legislature

With so many bills having been filed this session, it can be a lot to track all of them. We're here to help.

Be smart: Bills can start in either the Assembly or the Senate.

• To become law, bills must pass both the Assembly and the Senate. If either chamber makes a change, the amended bill must go back to the chamber of origin for reapproval.
• The bill then heads to the governor's desk, who can sign the bill into law, veto it or allow it to become law without signing it.
• Of note: The Assembly and Senate can override a governor's veto with a two-thirds vote in each house.

How to participate: Each bill has its own page on the Legislature's website, showing its current status, text and summary documents and where it is in the legislative process.

• You can search by bill number or keyword.
• If you want to comment on a particular bill — say, housing bill A.B. 1114 — scroll down to "Comments to Author."
• You'll need to create an account first, but then you can leave a comment to the state legislator who wrote the bill. In this case, that's Assemblymember Matt Haney.

You can also email your lawmaker directly. You can find out who they are and how to contact them using this tool.

• And here's where you can see what's on the docket in the Assembly and the Senate.
• Live programming information for the Senate and the Assembly is available online.

Lastly, the Chronicle has this handy tool to help you track some of the most pressing bills.