SACRAMENTO—The state Legislature gaveled down its 2016 session late Wednesday without enacting a state bar bill, leaving the largest lawyer-regulating agency in the country with no immediate authority to collect dues in 2017.
After days of negotiations among legislators and staff, the Senate and Assembly could not agree on language beyond a $390 dues charge for active bar members. In the closing minutes of Wednesday’s session, senators passed a bill they knew lacked support in the lower house. When the clock struck midnight, the bill died in the Assembly without ever having been called for a vote.
