Some California legislators miss hundreds of votes, but even ‘excused’ absences count as a ‘no’

CalMatters

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Corona who is running for state Senate, missed about two-thirds of her votes this year — 1,647 of 2,510 voting opportunities she had based on her committee assignments and floor sessions.

In most cases, the missed votes came from two “excused” absences during busy times of the year — once for a death in her family, and once due to illness after attending the Democratic National Convention in August, according to her staff.

Six other legislators missed more than a quarter of their votes this year, most involving excused absences for illness or family matters, according to an analysis of voting data from CalMatters’ Digital Democracy.

When it comes to voting on bills, however, the California Legislature does not distinguish between a lawmaker who is absent — excused or not — and a legislator who is present but does not vote. They all count the same as a legislator who casts a “no” vote, but they are categorized as: “No Vote Recorded” or NVR.

Sean McMorris, a program manager for California Common Cause, said the lack of transparency around absences versus abstentions can feed distrust.

“I think people are naturally skeptical about politics and politicians, so when you have things like this … it just reinforces that narrative,” he said. “Unfortunately, whether there’s ill intent or not, that’s probably what the public is going to assume.”

In a Legislature with a supermajority of Democrats who almost always vote “yes, ” there are few close votes where an individual will sway the outcome. But Digital Democracy data shows 45 bills that died in the current two-year legislative session because NVRs were counted as “no.” And at certain times, such as during the Democratic National Convention when 21 legislators missed votes during a busy week, legislators say it can make a difference.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire both declined interviews with CalMatters to discuss concerns about the way absences or abstentions are recorded and counted. But others suggested the rules might be changed.

“Anything that can be part of a conversation that helps with transparency and boldness of disclosure for the viewing public, I think is certainly appropriate,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden, a Democrat from Pasadena.

Lorena Gonzalez, a former Assemblymember who now heads the California Labor Federation, said the lack of clarity around why people didn’t vote can make it difficult for her group to rank legislators based on its priorities.

Cervantes, for instance, earned a 100% score from the federation in 2023, but missed eight votes on 12 of the group’s priority bills this year. Gonzalez said she has no doubt about Cervantes’ support of labor.

But for others, Gonzalez said the uncertainty can require going to each legislator to confirm where they stand: “Abstain, absent, truly absent, excused absence, unexcused absence, and just sitting at your frickin’ desk and choosing not to vote …. I don’t think there’s any transparency for constituents.”

Legislative policies for votes and absences in other states are not tracked, but there are some with differences.

In Colorado, for example, absent members’ votes are recorded separately from those abstaining, but they still count as “no” votes. And in Hawaii, there’s an option to vote as “ yes with reservations,” which counts as a yes vote.

Behind the no-vote rates

While California’s Legislature is in session for about seven months each year, most important votes on bills happen around a few key deadlines: the “house of origin” deadline in late spring, when a bill must pass from the chamber where it was introduced, and the last week of the session before the Legislature adjourns in August or September. During those times, legislators can be asked to cast more than 200 votes in a single day.

It explains why Cervantes missed more votes than any other legislator, but she ranked fourth in the number of days she was absent. Assemblymember Megan Dahle, a Republican from Redding, was absent for 88 days due to a stroke she suffered in January, more than twice as many absences as Cervantes. But Cervantes missed 441 more votes than Dahle.

This year, there were seven legislators who missed more than a quarter of their opportunities to vote, a number that depends on their committee assignments. Most were absent for medical reasons. The seven legislators — four Democrats and three Republicans — all serve in the Assembly:

1. Dahle was out from January to early June recovering from her stroke. She missed 1,206 votes, or 54% of voting opportunities.

2. Visalia Republican Devon Mathis was out 55 days from April to July due to a “severe” hand injury for which he was briefly hospitalized, according to his office. But he did do some work in his district during the absence. He missed 1,389 votes, or 56%.

3. Hayward Democrat Liz Ortega was out for 10 days during the last two weeks of the session due to gallbladder surgery. She missed 893 votes, or 36%.

4. Holden missed 529 votes when he was excused for four days in May due to the illness of a family member. He missed a total of 704 votes this year, or 28%.

5. Arleta Democrat Luz Rivas missed 367 votes when she was out due to COVID for four days in May. She missed a total of 661 votes this year, or 29%.

6. Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Corona, missed 777 voting opportunities, or 30%.

CalMatters contacted all seven legislative offices, but all except Essayli declined interviews and additional details for this story.

Missed votes per legislator

“No Vote Recorded” or NVR is the category for any missed vote, whether it is for an excused absence, an unexcused absence, a legislator who is present but not voting or a legislator opting to abstain.

Legislators are not allowed to vote remotely — a policy that garnered national attention in 2020 when Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, brought her then-newborn to the Capitol after being denied a remote option. Absent legislators are also not permitted to have a staff member or another legislator vote on their behalf.

The rules also say there is no difference between an absence or an “excused” absence when it comes to legislation and how that legislator’s non-vote is recorded. If an Assemblymember requests an “excused” absence from the speaker’s office, however, they can continue to collect their per diem of $214 per day. The per diem, provided in addition to each legislator’s $128,215 annual salary, is intended to pay for travel and lodging expenses in Sacramento when the Legislature is in session – which is usually Monday to Thursday.

The only public record of an excused absence is recorded in the “Daily Journal” published in print and PDF by the clerk’s office in each chamber. The Senate and Assembly clerk’s offices declined to provide a complete record of this year’s excused absences, so CalMatters examined all of the daily journals for 2024.

If legislators are out for personal business or fail to request an excused absence, they waive their right to a per diem.

Personal business this year included a trip to Chicago for 21 lawmakers to attend the Democratic National Convention — seven senators, and 14 Assemblymembers — which fell during the second-to-last-week of the session. Members skipped the first couple of days of the convention, arriving ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech Thursday so they would only miss two days of voting.

Still, on those two days, each senator missed 68 votes, and each Assemblymember 53.

Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, said those absences may have made a difference for a controversial bill about criminal sentences that he was struggling to pass after it was rejected earlier in the year. If the missing legislators were present, he said there might have been more consideration given to amendments he added to resolve the concerns.

No-votes as political tools

Not all of the legislators who missed the most votes were absent. Essayli missed 30% of his vote opportunities because, in some cases, he said he declines to vote even when he’s present “as a form of social politeness” to avoid upsetting a bill author.

In general, though, he said he also doesn’t think every bill merits a “yes” or “no” vote.

“It’s not practical to sit there and record a vote on necessarily every single bill when most of them are not of consequence,” he said.

McMorris, from Common Cause, said not voting is understandable if a member doesn’t agree with a bill, but wants to stay in good standing with colleagues — “because they’re going to be voting on your bills, too,” he said. Some lawmakers may also abstain because they are waiting to see amendments to a bill.

“But if you’re looking at it purely from a constituent’s perspective, members of the public are probably wondering, why don’t you just vote based on your principles, your values and the wants and needs of your constituents? Because that’s what we put you in there to do.”

Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Democrat from Moreno Valley, agrees.

Jackson, who abstained in about 2.5% of his votes, said a clear “yes” or “no” vote is needed to solve the challenges California faces on homelessness, gas prices and cost of living issues — regardless of whether that might upset lobbyists or colleagues.

“The reason why many times that these issues aren’t being addressed is because we’re afraid to make people upset,” he said. “In order to solve the toughest issues, you’re going to make people be upset, whether you vote for it or against it. But we have to solve these issues.”

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This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.