---
type: "Bill"
title: "COVID-19 relief: tenancy: federal rental assistance."
description: "(1) Existing law prohibits a landlord from interrupting or terminating utility service furnished to a tenant with the intent to terminate the occupancy of the tenant, and imposes specified penalties on a landlord who violates that prohibition. Existing law, until February 1, 2021, imposes additional damages in an amount of at least $1,000, but not more than $2,500, on a landlord that violates that prohibition, if the tenant has provided a declaration of COVID-19 financial distress, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 91"
citation: "California SB 91 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill", "appropriation"]
subjects: ["COVID-19 relief: tenancy: federal rental assistance."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2020-12-16"
last_action: "2021-01-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c39e1dba-5686-4c63-a567-7dc766eacff7"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91"
source_hash: "3e3c6b5d70af97ebdaeff3c71cfdb1319c2efe9a098fba9ec209be0bce56f254"
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 91 (20212022) — COVID-19 relief: tenancy: federal rental assistance.

(1) Existing law prohibits a landlord from interrupting or terminating utility service furnished to a tenant with the intent to terminate the occupancy of the tenant, and imposes specified penalties on a landlord who violates that prohibition. Existing law, until February 1, 2021, imposes additional damages in an amount of at least $1,000, but not more than $2,500, on a landlord that violates that prohibition, if the tenant has provided a declaration of COVID-19 financial distress, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/16/20 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91&version=20210SB9199INT)
2. **01/25/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91&version=20210SB9198AMD)
3. **01/29/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91&version=20210SB9196CHP)
4. **SB91** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91)
5. **01/28/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB91&version=20210SB9197ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading SB91 — **22–2** (pass) · upper
- SB 91 B. & F. R. Senate Third Reading By REYES — **72–1** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB91 B. & F.R. (Skinner) Concurrence — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-12-16** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2020-12-17** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 16.
- **2021-01-11** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-15** Withdrawn from committee. (Ayes 22. Noes 8. Page 76.)
- **2021-01-15** Ordered to second reading.
- **2021-01-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-01-21** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 22. Noes 2. Page 90.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-01-21** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-22** Referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** Assembly Rule 96 suspended. (Ayes 50. Noes 14. Page 200.)
- **2021-01-25** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2021-01-25** Ordered to second reading.
- **2021-01-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 72. Noes 1. Page 233.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-01-28** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2021-01-28** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 120.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-01-28** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1:30 p.m.
- **2021-01-29** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-01-29** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 2, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c39e1dba-5686-4c63-a567-7dc766eacff7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).