---
type: "Bill"
title: "Environmental education: environmental principles and concepts."
description: "(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "SB 720"
citation: "California SB 720 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Environmental education: environmental principles and concepts."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 31
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2017-02-17"
last_action: "2018-09-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d3e88147-2214-444a-9529-4df9d9fa1a63"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720"
source_hash: "2c7990ad0bc63ca36c86d76705bbec4292a4185444f868d9f426511fe2735510"
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 720 (20172018) — Environmental education: environmental principles and concepts.

(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/17/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72099INT)
2. **01/03/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72098AMD)
3. **01/11/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72097AMD)
4. **06/06/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72096AMD)
5. **06/20/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72095AMD)
6. **07/05/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72094AMD)
7. **08/06/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72093AMD)
8. **09/13/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72091CHP)
9. **SB720** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720)
10. **09/05/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB720&version=20170SB72092ENR)

## Votes

- Unfinished Business SB720 Allen et al. Concurrence — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **12–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Education] — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 720 Allen Senate Third Reading By THURMOND — **69–7** (pass) · lower
- Consent Calendar SB720 — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- That the Assembly amendments be concurred in — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Allen — primary (person)
- Thurmond — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-17** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-21** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
- **2017-03-09** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-03** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2018-01-03** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2018-01-03** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-03** Re-referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-05** Set for hearing January 10.
- **2018-01-10** From committee: Do pass as amended. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 4019.) (January 10). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2018-01-11** Read second time and amended. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2018-01-29** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 4115.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-01-30** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2018-04-23** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-06** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ED. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2018-06-07** Re-referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and ED. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-19** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on ED. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 18). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2018-06-20** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ED. `amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1`
- **2018-07-03** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2018-07-05** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1`
- **2018-08-06** 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`
- **2018-08-15** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 1.) (August 15). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-08-16** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-30** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 69. Noes 7. Page 6964.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-30** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2018-08-31** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). `referral-committee`
- **2018-08-31** From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on ED. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d) . (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 6076.) Re-referred to Com. on ED. `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-08-31** From committee: That the Assembly amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 6198.) `committee-passage`
- **2018-08-31** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 6137.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2018-09-06** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2018-09-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-09-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 374, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d3e88147-2214-444a-9529-4df9d9fa1a63`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).