republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-656.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Joint powers agreements: mutual water companies."
description: "The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes 2 or more public agencies, as defined, if authorized by their governing bodies, by agreement to jointly exercise any power common to the contracting parties, and specifically authorizes a mutual water company to enter into a joint powers agreement with a public agency for these purposes. Existing law authorizes local public entities, as defined, to enter into a joint powers agreement for the purposes of providing risk-pooling, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 656"
citation: "California AB 656 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Joint powers agreements: mutual water companies."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cristina Garcia"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2015-02-24"
last_action: "2015-09-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9a6b4c43-8d91-4550-ac0b-f3d585dba762"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656"
source_hash: "e2b59b0e7aaedafa294fd58295ece8318217ed993a29673e08d8997d24ceef70"
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 656 (20152016) — Joint powers agreements: mutual water companies.

The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes 2 or more public agencies, as defined, if authorized by their governing bodies, by agreement to jointly exercise any power common to the contracting parties, and specifically authorizes a mutual water company to enter into a joint powers agreement with a public agency for these purposes. Existing law authorizes local public entities, as defined, to enter into a joint powers agreement for the purposes of providing risk-pooling, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/24/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656&version=20150AB65699INT)
2. **05/04/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656&version=20150AB65698AMD)
3. **06/22/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656&version=20150AB65697AMD)
4. **09/03/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656&version=20150AB65695CHP)
5. **AB656** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656)
6. **08/21/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB656&version=20150AB65696ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **14–1** (pass) · lower
- AB 656 GARCIA, C. Assembly Third Reading — **68–1** (pass) · lower
- AB 656 GARCIA, C. Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **77–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB656 Cristina Garcia By Hertzberg — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cristina Garcia — primary (person)
- Alejo — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-24** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2015-02-25** From printer. May be heard in committee March 27.
- **2015-03-09** Referred to Com. on L. GOV. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-22** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2015-04-30** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 29). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-05-04** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-05-05** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2015-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 1.) (May 20). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-05-21** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-05-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 68. Noes 1. Page 1557.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-22** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2015-06-04** Referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-19** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 17). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-06-22** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-07-06** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2015-07-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-08-17** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2052.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-08-18** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 20 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2015-08-20** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 1. Page 2523.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-08-27** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2015-09-03** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-09-03** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 250, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9a6b4c43-8d91-4550-ac0b-f3d585dba762`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).