---
type: "Bill"
title: "Fictitious business name statements."
description: "Existing law requires a person who regularly transacts business in the state for profit under a fictitious business name to file a fictitious business name statement in accordance with prescribed requirements and to file a new statement after a change in the facts set forth in the statement. Existing law requires that these statements be filed with county clerks. Existing law authorizes a county to require a registrant that mails a fictitious business name statement to a county clerk's office for filing to submit a completed and notarized affidavit of identity. Existing law also authorizes a county clerk to require an agent acting for a person filing a fictitious business statement, generally referred to as a registrant, to submit a notarized statement signed by the registrant declaring the registrant has authorized the agent to submit the filing on behalf of the registrant."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "AB 716"
citation: "California AB 716 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Fictitious business name statements."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chen"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-02-19"
last_action: "2019-06-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/286383b4-661b-4da7-9076-74b97de75043"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716"
source_hash: "5d47fdd77f5fddab095b3f62c9635e1702789f1243f2fc3bb8cf4f1fb48884eb"
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 716 (20192020) — Fictitious business name statements.

Existing law requires a person who regularly transacts business in the state for profit under a fictitious business name to file a fictitious business name statement in accordance with prescribed requirements and to file a new statement after a change in the facts set forth in the statement. Existing law requires that these statements be filed with county clerks. Existing law authorizes a county to require a registrant that mails a fictitious business name statement to a county clerk's office for filing to submit a completed and notarized affidavit of identity. Existing law also authorizes a county clerk to require an agent acting for a person filing a fictitious business statement, generally referred to as a registrant, to submit a notarized statement signed by the registrant declaring the registrant has authorized the agent to submit the filing on behalf of the registrant.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/19/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716&version=20190AB71699INT)
2. **05/07/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716&version=20190AB71698AMD)
3. **06/26/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716&version=20190AB71696CHP)
4. **AB716** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716)
5. **06/18/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB716&version=20190AB71697ENR)

## Votes

- Consent Calendar AB716 — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 716 Chen Consent Calendar Second Day — **74–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **20–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chen — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-19** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-20** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2019-02-28** Referred to Coms. on B. & P. and P. & C.P. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-26** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 20. Noes 0.) (March 26). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-03-27** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-04-01** From Consent Calendar.
- **2019-04-01** Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P. pursuant to Assembly Rule 97. `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-06** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 30). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2019-05-07** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-08** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-13** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 1637.) `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-14** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-22** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-10** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 10). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-06-11** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-06-17** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 1607.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-06-18** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2019-06-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2019-06-26** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-26** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 15, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/286383b4-661b-4da7-9076-74b97de75043`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).