republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/sb-956.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Enforcement of money judgments: exemptions."
description: "Existing law identifies various types of property of a judgment debtor that are exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment. Existing law provides that all of the exemptions that are applicable to the enforcement of a money judgment are applicable in a bankruptcy case, regardless of whether there is a money judgment against the debtor or whether a money judgment is being enforced by execution sale or any other procedure, unless the debtor elects certain alternative exemptions in lieu of all other statutory exemptions provided. Existing law provides that money held in an account owned by the judgment debtor and established pursuant to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act is exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment and also as an alternative exemption in a bankruptcy case, and the amount exempted is limited to contributions to the account, as specified, prior to the date of filing of the debtor's petition for bankruptcy, not to exceed the amount of the annual gift exclusion under Section 2503(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in effect at the time of the contribution. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adjust, every 3 years, the amounts of the exemptions applicable to exempt property based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 956"
citation: "California SB 956 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Enforcement of money judgments: exemptions."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wieckowski"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2022-02-09"
last_action: "2022-06-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/35a1d4db-4c51-4d8a-8415-bc42cc9002da"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB956"
source_hash: "0d3da9214bcb23a1521a62464220d71684e6484953fb23c701fbe91aebed4182"
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 956 (20212022) — Enforcement of money judgments: exemptions.

Existing law identifies various types of property of a judgment debtor that are exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment. Existing law provides that all of the exemptions that are applicable to the enforcement of a money judgment are applicable in a bankruptcy case, regardless of whether there is a money judgment against the debtor or whether a money judgment is being enforced by execution sale or any other procedure, unless the debtor elects certain alternative exemptions in lieu of all other statutory exemptions provided. Existing law provides that money held in an account owned by the judgment debtor and established pursuant to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act is exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment and also as an alternative exemption in a bankruptcy case, and the amount exempted is limited to contributions to the account, as specified, prior to the date of filing of the debtor's petition for bankruptcy, not to exceed the amount of the annual gift exclusion under Section 2503(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in effect at the time of the contribution. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adjust, every 3 years, the amounts of the exemptions applicable to exempt property based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/09/22 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB956&version=20210SB95699INT)
2. **06/20/22 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB956&version=20210SB95697CHP)
3. **SB956** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB956)
4. **06/10/22 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB956&version=20210SB95698ENR)

## Votes

- SB 956 Wieckowski Consent Calendar Second Day — **69–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Consent Calendar SB956 — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Wieckowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-02-09** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-02-09** Article IV Section 8(a) of the Constitution and Joint Rule 55 dispensed with February 7, 2022, suspending the 30 calendar day requirement.
- **2022-02-10** From printer.
- **2022-02-16** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-10** Set for hearing March 29.
- **2022-03-30** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 3254.) (March 29). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-31** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-04-07** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 3358.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-04-07** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2022-05-05** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2022-06-01** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-06-02** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-06-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 69. Noes 0. Page 5305.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-06-09** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2022-06-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2:30 p.m.
- **2022-06-20** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-06-20** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 25, Statutes of 2022. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/35a1d4db-4c51-4d8a-8415-bc42cc9002da`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).