California 2017-2018 Regular Session Status: Enacted 3 D cosponsors

SB 179 — Gender identity: female, male, or nonbinary.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 853, Statutes of 2017.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 24, 2017. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 82% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 22 sponsors

    1 primary, 21 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (3 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 10 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

(1) Existing law authorizes a person who was born in this state and who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition to obtain a new birth certificate from the State Registrar. This bill would enact the Gender Recognition Act. For purposes of obtaining a new birth certificate under the provisions above, the bill would delete the requirement that an applicant have undergone any treatment, and instead would authorize a person to submit to the State Registrar an application to change gender on the birth certificate and an affidavit attesting, under penalty of perjury, that the request for a change of gender is to conform the person's legal gender to the person's gender identity and not for any fraudulent purpose. By requiring the affidavit to be attested to under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the change of gender on a new birth certificate to be female, male, or nonbinary. (2) Existing law authorizes a person who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition to petition for a court judgment recognizing the change of gender, and to petition for a court order conforming the person's name to the person's gender identity. Existing law provides specific procedures to seek these orders and judgments, either separately or in combination. This bill, commencing on September 1, 2018, would delete the requirement that a person have undergone any treatment to seek a court judgment to recognize a change of gender and instead would authorize the petitioner to attest, under penalty of perjury, that the request is to conform the person's legal gender to the person's gender identity and not for any fraudulent purpose. By requiring the affidavit to be attested to under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a change of gender in the court judgment to female, male, or nonbinary. The bill would provide modified procedures to obtain a court order for a change of name to conform to the petitioner's gender identity and a court judgment to recognize a change in the petitioner's gender. The bill would provide a separate procedure for a person under 18 years of age to petition for a court judgment to recognize a change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver's license to an applicant when the department determines that the applicant is lawfully entitled to a license, and requires the license to contain, among other things, a brief description and engraved picture or photograph of the licensee for the purpose of identification. Existing law requires the application for an original driver's license or renewal of a driver's license to contain specified information, as provided by the applicant. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue identification cards and requires an identification card to adequately describe the applicant. Existing law requires the department, upon issuance of a new identification card or renewal of an identification card, to provide information regarding organ and tissue donation, including an enrollment form for the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry that requires an applicant to mark his or her sex. This bill, on January 1, 2019, would require an applicant for an original driver's license or renewal of a driver's license to choose a gender category of female, male, or nonbinary, as specified, and would require the department to adopt regulations to provide a process for an amendment to a gender category under these provisions. The bill would also require the enrollment form for the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry to instead require an applicant to mark his or her gender. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 853, Statutes of 2017.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

  4. Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 26. Noes 12. Page 2923.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

  5. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  6. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 57. Noes 21. Page 3261.) Ordered to the Senate.

  7. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  8. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  9. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 5.) (September 1).

  10. August 23 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  11. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (July 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  12. Coauthors revised.

  13. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.

  14. From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (June 27).

  15. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  16. Referred to Coms. on JUD. and TRANS.

  17. In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

  18. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 26. Noes 12. Page 1314.) Ordered to the Assembly.

  19. Published May 26 at 10 a.m.

  20. Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.

  21. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1179.) (May 25).

  22. Set for hearing May 25.

  23. May 15 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  24. Set for hearing May 15.

  25. May 8 hearing postponed by committee.

  26. Set for hearing May 8.

  27. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 851.) (April 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  28. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  29. Set for hearing April 25.

  30. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 9. Noes 1. Page 627.) (April 4). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  31. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on T. & H.

  32. Set for hearing April 4.

  33. Referred to Coms. on T. & H. and JUD.

  34. From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 24.

  35. Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Sponsors

  • Atkins · Primary
  • De León · Cosponsor
  • Mitchell · Cosponsor
  • Bocanegra · Cosponsor
  • Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry · Cosponsor
  • Bloom · Cosponsor
  • Chiu · Cosponsor
  • Eggman · Cosponsor
  • Friedman · Cosponsor
  • Galgiani · Cosponsor
  • Gloria · Cosponsor
  • Ash Kalra · Cosponsor
  • Lara · Cosponsor
  • Low · Cosponsor
  • Medina · Cosponsor
  • Monning · Cosponsor
  • O'Donnell · Cosponsor
  • Skinner · Cosponsor
  • Ting · Cosponsor
  • Scott D. Wiener · Cosponsor
  • Mark Stone · Cosponsor
  • Cristina Garcia · Cosponsor

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 21 co-sponsors · 100 not signed on · 11 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Atkins

Co-sponsors (21)

Not signed on (100)

100 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 100 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Unfinished Business SB179 Atkins et al. Concurrence

Passed 26 Yea · 12 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 221102
Democratic 4100
Total 261202
% of votes cast 65%30%0%5%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Anderson — Nay
Bradford — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Monning — Yea
Moorlach — Nay
Newman — Yea
Nielsen — Nay
Skinner — Yea
Wilk — Nay
Glazer — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Hill — Yea
Lara — Yea
Allen — Yea
De León — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Beall — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Mendoza — Yea
Pan — Yea
Roth — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Fuller — Nay
Cannella — Not Voting
Hueso — Not Voting
Bates — Nay
Morrell — Nay
Vidak — Nay
Beth Gaines — Nay
Bill Berryhill — Nay
Mark Stone — Nay
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Nay
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

SB 179 Atkins Senate Third Reading By GLORIA

Passed 57 Yea · 21 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 421501
Democratic 15000
Republican 0600
Total 572101
% of votes cast 72%27%0%1%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Nay
Bigelow — Nay
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Nay
Holden — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Mathis — Nay
McCarty — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Ting — Yea
Waldron — Nay
Eggman — Yea
Cooper — Not Voting
Cunningham — Nay
Dababneh — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Burke — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Salas — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Daly — Yea
Low — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Medina — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Ridley-Thomas — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Gray — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Fong — Nay
Harper — Nay
Kiley — Nay
Levine — Yea
Melendez — Nay
Baker — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Obernolte — Nay
Quirk — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Steinorth — Nay
Voepel — Nay
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Nay
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Nay
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Nay
Choi, Steven S. Republican Nay
Dahle, Megan Republican Nay
Flora, Heath Republican Nay
Gallagher, James Republican Nay
Lackey, Tom Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended.

Passed 11 Yea · 5 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 8401
Democratic 3000
Republican 0100
Total 11501
% of votes cast 65%29%0%6%
How each member voted (17)
Member Party Vote
Bigelow — Nay
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Nay
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Obernolte — Nay
Fong — Nay
Gray — Not Voting
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Passed 11 Yea · 3 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 2000
Unaffiliated 9300
Total 11300
% of votes cast 79%21%0%0%
How each member voted (14)
Member Party Vote
Mathis — Nay
Friedman — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Fong — Nay
Chu — Yea
Harper — Nay
Daly — Yea
Baker — Yea
Medina — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Transportation]

Passed 9 Yea · 1 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7101
Democratic 2000
Total 9101
% of votes cast 82%9%0%9%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Holden — Yea
Chau — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Cunningham — Not Voting
Kiley — Nay
Maienschein — Yea
Ting — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading SB179 Atkins et al.

Passed 26 Yea · 12 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 221102
Democratic 4100
Total 261202
% of votes cast 65%30%0%5%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Nay
Bradford — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Morrell — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Skinner — Yea
Vidak — Nay
Wilk — Nay
Dodd — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Cannella — Not Voting
Fuller — Nay
Glazer — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Hill — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Allen — Yea
De León — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Portantino — Not Voting
Lara — Yea
Anderson — Nay
Beall — Yea
Mendoza — Yea
Monning — Yea
Moorlach — Nay
Newman — Yea
Pan — Yea
Roth — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Beth Gaines — Nay
Bill Berryhill — Nay
Mark Stone — Nay
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Nay
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended

Passed 5 Yea · 2 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4200
Democratic 1000
Total 5200
% of votes cast 71%29%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Nay
Bradford — Yea
Hill — Yea
Lara — Yea
Beall — Yea
Nielsen — Nay
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Placed on suspense file

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6000
Democratic 1000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Yea
Beall — Yea
Hill — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Lara — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary]

Passed 9 Yea · 1 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7103
Democratic 2000
Total 9103
% of votes cast 69%8%0%23%
How each member voted (13)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Not Voting
Roth — Yea
Cannella — Not Voting
Allen — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Beall — Yea
Mendoza — Yea
Morrell — Nay
Skinner — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Beth Gaines — Not Voting
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 179 do?
(1) Existing law authorizes a person who was born in this state and who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition to obtain a new birth certificate from the State Registrar. This bill would enact the Gender Recognition Act. For purposes of obtaining a new birth certificate under the provisions above, the bill would delete the requirement that an applicant have undergone any treatment, and instead would authorize a person to submit to the State Registrar an application to change gender on the birth certificate and an affidavit attesting, under penalty of perjury, that the request for a change of gender is to conform the person's legal gender to the person's gender identity and not for any fraudulent purpose. By requiring the affidavit to be attested to under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the change of gender on a new birth certificate to be female, male, or nonbinary. (2) Existing law authorizes a person who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition to petition for a court judgment recognizing the change of gender, and to petition for a court order conforming the person's name to the person's gender identity. Existing law provides specific procedures to seek these orders and judgments, either separately or in combination. This bill, commencing on September 1, 2018, would delete the requirement that a person have undergone any treatment to seek a court judgment to recognize a change of gender and instead would authorize the petitioner to attest, under penalty of perjury, that the request is to conform the person's legal gender to the person's gender identity and not for any fraudulent purpose. By requiring the affidavit to be attested to under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a change of gender in the court judgment to female, male, or nonbinary. The bill would provide modified procedures to obtain a court order for a change of name to conform to the petitioner's gender identity and a court judgment to recognize a change in the petitioner's gender. The bill would provide a separate procedure for a person under 18 years of age to petition for a court judgment to recognize a change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver's license to an applicant when the department determines that the applicant is lawfully entitled to a license, and requires the license to contain, among other things, a brief description and engraved picture or photograph of the licensee for the purpose of identification. Existing law requires the application for an original driver's license or renewal of a driver's license to contain specified information, as provided by the applicant. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue identification cards and requires an identification card to adequately describe the applicant. Existing law requires the department, upon issuance of a new identification card or renewal of an identification card, to provide information regarding organ and tissue donation, including an enrollment form for the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry that requires an applicant to mark his or her sex. This bill, on January 1, 2019, would require an applicant for an original driver's license or renewal of a driver's license to choose a gender category of female, male, or nonbinary, as specified, and would require the department to adopt regulations to provide a process for an amendment to a gender category under these provisions. The bill would also require the enrollment form for the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry to instead require an applicant to mark his or her gender. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Who sponsors SB 179?
SB 179 is sponsored by Atkins, De León, Mitchell, Bocanegra, Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. (Democratic), Bloom, Chiu, Eggman, Friedman, Galgiani, Gloria, Kalra, Ash (Democratic), Lara, Low, Medina, Monning, O'Donnell, Skinner, Ting, Wiener, Scott D. (Democratic), Mark Stone, and Cristina Garcia.
What is the current status of SB 179?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 24, 2017. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 179?
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