--- type: "Bill" title: "Military and veterans: transition assistance: citizenship." description: "Existing law requires, by July 1, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop a transition assistance program for veterans who have been discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard of any state, as specified." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20172018" identifier: "SB 156" citation: "California SB 156 (20172018)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Military and veterans: transition assistance: citizenship."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Anderson"] version_count: 7 action_count: 26 vote_count: 6 first_action: "2017-01-18" last_action: "2017-10-05" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/31fa66a7-a6fb-4135-b550-129b1f08ecbf" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156" source_hash: "11337fb3f23ac0302507717df5a1d550b2723b420695cc67dc81bb7d21189987" 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 SB 156 (20172018) — Military and veterans: transition assistance: citizenship. Existing law requires, by July 1, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop a transition assistance program for veterans who have been discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard of any state, as specified. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **01/18/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15699INT) 2. **03/29/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15698AMD) 3. **05/02/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15697AMD) 4. **08/28/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15696AMD) 5. **10/05/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15694CHP) 6. **SB156** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156) 7. **09/18/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB156&version=20170SB15695ENR) ## Votes - Do pass. — **15–0** (pass) · lower - SB 156 Anderson Third Reading Urgency By GONZALEZ FLETCHER — **73–2** (pass) · lower - Special Consent Calendar SB156 Anderson et al. Urgency Clause — **40–0** (pass) · upper - 3rd Reading SB156 Anderson et al. Urgency Clause — **40–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–1** (pass) · lower - Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · upper ## Sponsors - Anderson — primary (person) - Gonzalez Fletcher — principal coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2017-01-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1` - **2017-01-19** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 18. - **2017-01-26** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee` - **2017-03-29** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1` - **2017-04-05** Re-referred to Com. on V.A. `referral-committee` - **2017-04-13** Set for hearing April 25. - **2017-05-01** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 830.) (April 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage` - **2017-05-02** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1` - **2017-05-04** Set for hearing May 15. - **2017-05-15** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2` - **2017-05-16** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-05-30** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 1246.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2017-05-31** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1` - **2017-06-08** Referred to Com. on V.A. `referral-committee` - **2017-06-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2017-08-23** August 23 hearing postponed by committee. - **2017-08-28** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1` - **2017-08-30** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 30). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2017-08-31** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-09-07** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 73. Noes 2. Page 3037.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2017-09-08** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. - **2017-09-12** Ordered to special consent calendar. - **2017-09-14** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2903.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage` - **2017-09-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. - **2017-10-05** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2017-10-05** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 497, Statutes of 2017. ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/31fa66a7-a6fb-4135-b550-129b1f08ecbf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).