---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local initiative measures: submission to the voters."
description: "Existing law permits a proposed county, municipal, or district ordinance to be submitted to the governing body of the county, city, or district by filing an initiative petition signed by a specified number of voters. If a county or municipal initiative measure qualifies for the ballot, existing law requires that the election for the measure be either at a special election or at the next statewide or regular election, depending on the percentage of signatures received on the initiative petition. If a district initiative measure qualifies for the ballot, existing law requires that the election for the measure be either at a special election or at the next regular election, depending on whether the initiative petition contains a specified request."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 765"
citation: "California AB 765 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Local initiative measures: submission to the voters."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Low"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 16
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2017-02-15"
last_action: "2017-10-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fe75b17c-71da-4464-99fc-e8289e73f768"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765"
source_hash: "370a8b14235c497102bb360fae7e35a952f960e9d3bd3f36949f5bf5cef943be"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 765 (20172018) — Local initiative measures: submission to the voters.

Existing law permits a proposed county, municipal, or district ordinance to be submitted to the governing body of the county, city, or district by filing an initiative petition signed by a specified number of voters. If a county or municipal initiative measure qualifies for the ballot, existing law requires that the election for the measure be either at a special election or at the next statewide or regular election, depending on the percentage of signatures received on the initiative petition. If a district initiative measure qualifies for the ballot, existing law requires that the election for the measure be either at a special election or at the next regular election, depending on whether the initiative petition contains a specified request.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/15/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765&version=20170AB76599INT)
2. **05/11/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765&version=20170AB76598AMD)
3. **10/13/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765&version=20170AB76596CHP)
4. **AB765** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765)
5. **09/07/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB765&version=20170AB76597ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB765 Low By Stern — **24–14** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- AB 765 LOW Assembly Third Reading — **49–28** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Low — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-15** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-16** From printer. May be heard in committee March 18.
- **2017-03-02** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-10** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 10). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-05-11** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-05-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-05-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 49. Noes 28. Page 1653.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-05-22** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2017-06-01** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-21** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 20). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-06-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-09-05** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 24. Noes 14. Page 2450.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-09-05** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2017-09-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2017-10-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-10-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 748, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fe75b17c-71da-4464-99fc-e8289e73f768`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).