Bill Commons

CA AB 1997

vetoed

Land use: housing development approvals: timelines and processes.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

Follow this bill’s action updates (Atom)

Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.

Quick answers

Did CA AB 1997 pass?

No. CA AB 1997 passed the legislature but was vetoed. Latest recorded action (2026-09-30): Vetoed by Governor.

What is CA AB 1997 about?

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. The Permit Streamlining Act sets forth various procedures for the review and approval of development project applications. Among other things, the act requires a public agency that is the lead agency or a responsible agency for a development project to approve or disapprove the project within a specified period of time, which varies depending on the project's phase in the CEQA process. The act defines "development project" to include specified housing development projects, as provided. This bill would additionally require approval or disapproval of a housing development project within 30 days from the date of certification by the lead agency of the EIR, if the EIR is prepared pursuant to specified provisions of CEQA if certain other conditions are met. The bill would also define "housing development project" for the purposes of the Permit Streamlining Act and make additional conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 CA AB 1997?

Lee is the primary sponsor of CA AB 1997.

Description

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. The Permit Streamlining Act sets forth various procedures for the review and approval of development project applications. Among other things, the act requires a public agency that is the lead agency or a responsible agency for a development project to approve or disapprove the project within a specified period of time, which varies depending on the project's phase in the CEQA process. The act defines "development project" to include specified housing development projects, as provided. This bill would additionally require approval or disapproval of a housing development project within 30 days from the date of certification by the lead agency of the EIR, if the EIR is prepared pursuant to specified provisions of CEQA if certain other conditions are met. The bill would also define "housing development project" for the purposes of the Permit Streamlining Act and make additional conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.

Introduced
2026-04-07
Latest action
2026-09-30 — Vetoed by Governor.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Leeauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-30

    Vetoed by Governor.

    executive-veto

  2. 2026-08-31

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

  3. 2026-08-25

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 35. Noes 3.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  4. 2026-08-25

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  5. 2026-08-25

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 71. Noes 4.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  6. 2026-08-25

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 71. Noes 4. Page 6508.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  7. 2026-08-04

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  8. 2026-08-03

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

    committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  9. 2026-07-01

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  10. 2026-06-18

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

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  11. 2026-06-17

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on HOUSING. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (June 17).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  12. 2026-06-03

    Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and HOUSING.

    referral-committee

  13. 2026-05-27

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1,referral-committee

  14. 2026-05-26

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 71. Noes 3.)

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  15. 2026-05-26

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 71. Noes 3. Page 5369.)

  16. 2026-05-19

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  17. 2026-05-18

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

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  18. 2026-05-14

    Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 5030.)

  19. 2026-05-14

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 1.) (May 14).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage

  20. 2026-05-13

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

    referral-committee

  21. 2026-04-28

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    referral-committee

  22. 2026-04-27

    Read second time and amended.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  23. 2026-04-23

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 1.) (April 22).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  24. 2026-04-20

    Re-referred to Com. on H. & C.D.

    referral-committee

  25. 2026-04-16

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on H. & C.D. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on H. & C.D.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  26. 2026-04-16

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on H. & C.D. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  27. 2026-04-13

    (Pending re-refer to Com. on H. & C.D.)

    referral-committee

  28. 2026-04-13

    Assembly Rule 56 suspended. (Page 4581.)

  29. 2026-04-08

    Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

    referral-committee

  30. 2026-04-07

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  31. 2026-03-09

    Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and H. & C.D.

    referral-committee

  32. 2026-02-18

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.

  33. 2026-02-17

    Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

Versions

  • 02/17/26 - Introduced — 2026-02-17Compare
  • 04/07/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-07Compare
  • 04/16/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-16Compare
  • 04/27/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-27Compare
  • 05/18/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-05-18Compare
  • 06/18/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-18Compare
  • 08/27/26 - Enrolled — 2026-08-27Compare
  • AB1997Compare
  • (document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Housing and Community Development]

    2026-04-15 · pass · 8-0

    Member-level votes (10)
    • Wilson: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Johnson: other
    • Ta: other

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

    2026-04-22 · pass · 11-1

    Member-level votes (12)
    • Kalra: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Tangipa: no

  • Do pass as amended.

    2026-05-14 · pass · 11-1

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Krell: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Tangipa: no
    • Ta: other
    • Dixon: other
    • Hoover: other

  • AB 1997 Lee Assembly Third Reading

    2026-05-27 · pass · 71-3

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Hadwick: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Macedo: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Ellis: yes
    • Jeff Gonzalez: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Wallis: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Alanis: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Flora: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • DeMaio: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Soria: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Gallagher: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Castillo: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Sanchez: no
    • Tangipa: no
    • Irwin: no
    • Lackey: other
    • Dixon: other
    • Boerner: other
    • Johnson: other
    • Celeste Rodriguez: other
    • Muratsuchi: other

  • Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Housing]

    2026-06-17 · pass · 5-1

    Member-level votes (7)
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Choi: yes
    • Cervantes: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Seyarto: no
    • Ashby: other

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

    2026-06-30 · pass · 8-1

    Member-level votes (10)
    • Padilla: yes
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Cortese: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Ochoa Bogh: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Seyarto: no
    • Gonzalez: other

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1997

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-02T18:21:48.879917Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

Bulk imports for this sessionSession dates and activity

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=CA&identifier=AB 1997. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.
  • Some documents have no extracted text yet, so version comparison may be limited.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.