republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/sb-947.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Property taxation."
description: "(1) The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, \"full cash value\" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under \"full cash value\" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. However, the California Constitution and existing property tax law exclude from a \"change in ownership\" real property transfers of a principal residence and the first $1,000,000 of the value of other real property between parents and their children, as defined by the Legislature. Existing law defines \"real property\" to mean the possession of, claim to, ownership of, or right to possession of land; all mines, minerals, and quarries in the land; and improvements to the land. However, real property does not include an interest in a legal entity."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 947"
citation: "California SB 947 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property taxation."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Governance and Finance"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 28
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2011-04-01"
last_action: "2011-09-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1f95674b-cd99-45b9-ac4a-88f5542d31df"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947"
source_hash: "90c43e4066b4dd302bbd884c963fff0895935d7d4accb1ac4b7d602448ce2831"
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 947 (20112012) — Property taxation.

(1) The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, "full cash value" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under "full cash value" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. However, the California Constitution and existing property tax law exclude from a "change in ownership" real property transfers of a principal residence and the first $1,000,000 of the value of other real property between parents and their children, as defined by the Legislature. Existing law defines "real property" to mean the possession of, claim to, ownership of, or right to possession of land; all mines, minerals, and quarries in the land; and improvements to the land. However, real property does not include an interest in a legal entity.

## Version chain

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

1. **04/01/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947&version=20110SB94799INT)
2. **06/07/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947&version=20110SB94798AMD)
3. **06/29/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947&version=20110SB94797AMD)
4. **09/26/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947&version=20110SB94795CHP)
5. **SB947** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947)
6. **09/08/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB947&version=20110SB94796ENR)

## Votes

- Consent Calendar 2nd SB947 Committee on GOV. & F. — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations Recommend Consent. — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Special Consent #9 SB947 Committee on GOV. & F. — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 947 GOV.& F. Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Revenue and Taxation to Consent Calendar. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. — **9–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Committee on Governance and Finance — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-04-01** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2011-04-04** From printer. May be acted upon on or after May 2.
- **2011-04-04** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2011-04-07** Referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-08** Set for hearing May 4.
- **2011-05-04** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 859.) (May 4). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-06** Set for hearing May 16.
- **2011-05-17** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage`
- **2011-05-18** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-05-23** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1064.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-05-23** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-06-02** Referred to Coms. on REV. & TAX. and L. GOV. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-03** Re-referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and REV. & TAX. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-07** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-06-07** (Corrected June 8.)
- **2011-06-15** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on REV. & TAX. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 15). Re-referred to Com. on REV. & TAX. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-06-27** Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2011-06-29** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on REV. & TAX. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-07-07** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (July 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-18** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (August 17). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-22** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-08-25** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2598.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-08-25** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2011-08-31** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2011-09-06** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2319.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-12** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2011-09-26** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-09-26** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 351, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1f95674b-cd99-45b9-ac4a-88f5542d31df`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).