---
type: "Bill"
title: "Planning and zoning: housing development: higher education institutions and religious institutions."
description: "The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 4"
citation: "California SB 4 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Planning and zoning", "higher education institutions and religious institutions", "housing development"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wiener"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 32
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2022-12-05"
last_action: "2023-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e25eacd3-4794-4e42-a86b-e3492e95abab"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4"
source_hash: "4b3adbc4a4cb99d807a7c0d849868554c74f9cf1752c99f97c3156d173fa6e31"
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 4 (20232024) — Planning and zoning: housing development: higher education institutions and religious institutions.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/05/22 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB499INT)
2. **02/22/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB498AMD)
3. **03/28/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB497AMD)
4. **05/18/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB496AMD)
5. **06/30/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB495AMD)
6. **08/14/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB494AMD)
7. **09/01/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB493AMD)
8. **10/11/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB491CHP)
9. **SB4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4)
10. **09/13/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4&version=20230SB492ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading SB4 Wiener et al. — **33–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB4 Wiener et al. Concurrence — **32–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended — **6–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Natural Resources] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Governance and Finance] — **9–1** (pass) · upper
- SB 4 Wiener Senate Third Reading By McKinnor — **73–1** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **11–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Wiener — primary (person)
- Alvarez — coauthor (person)
- Becker — coauthor (person)
- Berman — principal coauthor (person)
- Cortese — coauthor (person)
- Eggman — coauthor (person)
- Friedman — coauthor (person)
- Gabriel — coauthor (person)
- Gonzalez — coauthor (person)
- Kalra — coauthor (person)
- McKinnor — principal coauthor (person)
- Menjivar — coauthor (person)
- Quirk-Silva — coauthor (person)
- Skinner — coauthor (person)
- Ward — coauthor (person)
- Wendy Carrillo — coauthor (person)
- Wicks — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-12-05** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-12-06** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 5.
- **2023-02-01** Referred to Coms. on HOUSING and GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-22** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HOUSING. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-14** Set for hearing March 21.
- **2023-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on GOV. & F. (Ayes 9. Noes 1. Page 452.) (March 21). Re-referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-28** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-13** Set for hearing April 26.
- **2023-04-27** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 937.) (April 26). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-05** Set for hearing May 15.
- **2023-05-15** May 15 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
- **2023-05-16** Set for hearing May 18.
- **2023-05-18** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 1. Page 1156.) (May 18). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-18** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-30** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 33. Noes 2. Page 1356.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-31** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2023-06-08** Referred to Coms. on H. & C.D. and NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-29** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 28). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-06-30** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-07-18** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (July 10). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-08-14** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-23** August 23 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (September 1). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-07** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 73. Noes 1. Page 3008.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-07** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2023-09-11** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 32. Noes 2. Page 2596.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2023-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 771, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e25eacd3-4794-4e42-a86b-e3492e95abab`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).