---
type: "Bill"
title: "Water corporation: advice letters."
description: "Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including water corporations, as defined."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "SB 959"
citation: "California SB 959 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Water corporation: advice letters."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Beall"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2018-01-31"
last_action: "2018-09-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e6608334-1fcb-4b74-9a2c-a4154255b729"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959"
source_hash: "b278a78ccd8ea63654ef76127257f4e608ad752ae06310e9ff4586614a346892"
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 959 (20172018) — Water corporation: advice letters.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including water corporations, as defined.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/31/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959&version=20170SB95999INT)
2. **03/22/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959&version=20170SB95998AMD)
3. **06/13/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959&version=20170SB95997AMD)
4. **09/14/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959&version=20170SB95995CHP)
5. **SB959** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959)
6. **08/15/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB959&version=20170SB95996ENR)

## Votes

- SB 959 Beall Consent Calendar Second Day — **71–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB959 Beall Concurrence — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **11–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Beall — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-31** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-01** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 3.
- **2018-02-08** Referred to Com. on E., U. & C. `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-12** Set for hearing April 3.
- **2018-03-22** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E., U. & C. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2018-04-03** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 4514.) (April 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-04-04** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-04-05** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 4542.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-04-05** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2018-04-26** Referred to Com. on U. & E. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-13** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on U. & E. `reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2018-06-20** June 20 hearing postponed by committee.
- **2018-07-03** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (July 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-07-05** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 71. Noes 0. Page 6217.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-09** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2018-08-13** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 5264.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2018-08-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2018-09-14** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-09-14** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 409, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e6608334-1fcb-4b74-9a2c-a4154255b729`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).