---
type: "Bill"
title: "Initiative, referendum, and recall petitions: disclosures."
description: "The California Constitution and existing statutory law provide for the electors to propose statutes or amendments to the Constitution by initiative. Existing law authorizes a person who is a voter or who is qualified to register to vote in California to circulate an initiative or referendum petition within the state."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 47"
citation: "California SB 47 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Initiative", "referendum", "and recall petitions: disclosures."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 25
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2018-12-03"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/16f21e83-d8ed-4845-a505-95c855724858"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47"
source_hash: "b2bb4a27b3ba5891ef1c007cbd24e75c3454d58980d9236ffb89beddf49d5d7c"
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 47 (20192020) — Initiative, referendum, and recall petitions: disclosures.

The California Constitution and existing statutory law provide for the electors to propose statutes or amendments to the Constitution by initiative. Existing law authorizes a person who is a voter or who is qualified to register to vote in California to circulate an initiative or referendum petition within the state.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/03/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47&version=20190SB4799INT)
2. **09/06/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47&version=20190SB4798AMD)
3. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47&version=20190SB4796CHP)
4. **SB47** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47)
5. **09/16/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB47&version=20190SB4797ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading — **31–5** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB47 Allen et al. Concurrence — **32–8** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **14–3** (pass) · lower
- SB 47 Allen Senate Third Reading By Mullin — **64–11** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Public Safety] — **4–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Allen — primary (person)
- Cervantes — principal coauthor (person)
- Chiu — coauthor (person)
- Gabriel — coauthor (person)
- Gonzalez — principal coauthor (person)
- Hill — principal coauthor (person)
- Mullin — principal coauthor (person)
- Stern — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-12-03** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-12-04** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 3.
- **2019-01-16** Referred to Coms. on E. & C.A. and PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-13** Set for hearing April 2.
- **2019-04-02** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 4. Noes 0. Page 523.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-05** Set for hearing April 23.
- **2019-04-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 802.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-26** Set for hearing May 6.
- **2019-05-06** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-05-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-21** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 31. Noes 5. Page 1185.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-22** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-06-03** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2019-07-03** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 3). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-08-14** Coauthors revised.
- **2019-08-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 3.) (August 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-09-06** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-06** Ordered to third reading.
- **2019-09-11** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 64. Noes 11. Page 3433.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-11** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2019-09-12** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 32. Noes 8. Page 2888.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-19** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 563, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/16f21e83-d8ed-4845-a505-95c855724858`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).