---
type: "Bill"
title: "Family law: domestic partnerships."
description: "Existing law provides that 2 unmarried, unrelated adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring may establish a domestic partnership by filing a declaration with the Secretary of State if certain requirements are met, including that both persons have a common residence and that both persons are at least 18 years of age. Existing law authorizes 2 unmarried persons, not minors, who have been living together as husband and wife to obtain a confidential marriage license, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 651"
citation: "California SB 651 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Family law: domestic partnerships."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Leno"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 30
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2011-02-18"
last_action: "2011-10-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e9cf036c-31d0-4bc2-82ac-c0fb79da7676"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651"
source_hash: "5a5d6e06e4d1c1dd5b88c0123b6cabac62e8242cb22e981b1ec099d642b0e581"
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 651 (20112012) — Family law: domestic partnerships.

Existing law provides that 2 unmarried, unrelated adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring may establish a domestic partnership by filing a declaration with the Secretary of State if certain requirements are met, including that both persons have a common residence and that both persons are at least 18 years of age. Existing law authorizes 2 unmarried persons, not minors, who have been living together as husband and wife to obtain a confidential marriage license, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/18/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65199INT)
2. **03/31/11 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65198AMD)
3. **04/25/11 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65197AMD)
4. **06/22/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65196AMD)
5. **09/02/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65195AMD)
6. **10/09/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65193CHP)
7. **SB651** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651)
8. **09/14/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB651&version=20110SB65194ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **12–5** (pass) · lower
- Placed on Appropriations Suspense file. — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 651 Leno Senate Third Reading By SWANSON — **52–26** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **3–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **6–2** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **24–15** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **6–3** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business — **25–15** (pass) · upper
- SB 651 Leno Senate Third Reading By SWANSON Amend By SWANSON Set #1 — **49–26** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Leno — primary (person)
- Ammiano — coauthor (person)
- Block — coauthor (person)
- Blumenfield — coauthor (person)
- Chesbro — coauthor (person)
- De León — coauthor (person)
- Gordon — coauthor (person)
- Huffman — coauthor (person)
- Ma — coauthor (person)
- Pavley — coauthor (person)
- Portantino — coauthor (person)
- Skinner — coauthor (person)
- V. Manuel Pérez — coauthor (person)
- Yee — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-02-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2011-02-20** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 22.
- **2011-03-03** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-31** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-04-07** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-21** Set for hearing May 3.
- **2011-04-25** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-05-04** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 3. Noes 2. Page 860.) (May 3). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-06** Set for hearing May 16.
- **2011-05-16** Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2011-05-20** Set for hearing May 26.
- **2011-05-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 2. Page 1120.) (May 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-06-01** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 24. Noes 15. Page 1232.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-06-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-06-09** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-21** Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2011-06-22** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-06-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 3.) (June 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-07-13** Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2011-08-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 25). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-09-02** Read third time and amended. (Ayes 49. Noes 26. Page 2826.) `reading-3, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-02** Ordered to third reading.
- **2011-09-08** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 52. Noes 26. Page 3038.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-09-08** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2011-09-09** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 25. Noes 15. Page 2473.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-16** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2011-10-09** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-10-09** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 721, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e9cf036c-31d0-4bc2-82ac-c0fb79da7676`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).