republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-2389.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Special districts: district-based elections: reapportionment."
description: "Existing law provides for political subdivisions, including special districts, that encompass areas of representation within the state. With respect to these areas, public officials are generally elected by all of the voters of the political subdivision (at-large) or by or from districts formed within the political subdivision (district-based) . Under existing law, the manner of election of a governing body of a special district is generally specified in the statutes creating the district. If a political subdivision changes from an at-large method of election to a district-based election, existing law generally requires the political subdivision to submit to the voters an ordinance or resolution providing for the election of members of the governing body by district."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 2389"
citation: "California AB 2389 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Special districts: district-based elections: reapportionment."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ridley-Thomas"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 21
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2016-02-18"
last_action: "2016-09-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/686d296b-02df-477a-b0c4-0bad1e2b5523"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389"
source_hash: "8e2e215bdd2c0f1ef0609fc73a122282a05b263befe59472576414a4ecf6aceb"
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 AB 2389 (20152016) — Special districts: district-based elections: reapportionment.

Existing law provides for political subdivisions, including special districts, that encompass areas of representation within the state. With respect to these areas, public officials are generally elected by all of the voters of the political subdivision (at-large) or by or from districts formed within the political subdivision (district-based) . Under existing law, the manner of election of a governing body of a special district is generally specified in the statutes creating the district. If a political subdivision changes from an at-large method of election to a district-based election, existing law generally requires the political subdivision to submit to the voters an ordinance or resolution providing for the election of members of the governing body by district.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/18/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389&version=20150AB238999INT)
2. **04/05/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389&version=20150AB238998AMD)
3. **05/09/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389&version=20150AB238997AMD)
4. **09/28/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389&version=20150AB238995CHP)
5. **AB2389** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389)
6. **08/17/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2389&version=20150AB238996ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB2389 Ridley-Thomas By Allen — **34–5** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Local Government] — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Governance and Finance] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2389 RIDLEY-THOMAS Assembly Third Reading — **59–16** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **6–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ridley-Thomas — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-02-18** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2016-02-19** From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.
- **2016-03-08** Referred to Coms. on E. & R. and L. GOV. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-04** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (March 30). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-04-05** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-04-06** Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-25** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2016-05-05** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (May 4). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-05-09** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-10** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 16. Page 4782.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-19** Referred to Coms. on E. & C.A. and GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-09** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on GOV. & F. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 8). Re-referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-29** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 29). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-16** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 5. Page 5009.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-16** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-22** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2016-09-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 754, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/686d296b-02df-477a-b0c4-0bad1e2b5523`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).