AB 2719 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vehicles: certificates of title.

Summary

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a certificate of ownership to the legal owner of a vehicle upon registering the vehicle. Existing law requires the Director of Motor Vehicles to develop an Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) Program to require that all lienholders' title information be held in an electronic format, if the department determines that the program is cost effective compared to the current paper title and registration system. This bill would define "title," "certificate of title," and "certificate of ownership" for purposes of the Vehicle Code as an official record, whether in paper or electronic form, establishing and providing proof of legal ownership of a vehicle.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Jul 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Jul 29, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2719 was amended to add a new Vehicle Code section (610.5) defining 'title,' 'certificate of title,' and 'certificate of ownership' as official records in either paper or electronic form. This definition supports California's Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) Program by making clear that electronic titles carry the same legal weight as paper ones. The amendment also made minor technical corrections to existing Section 5600.5, including removing redundant wording and updating gendered pronouns.

DEFINITION

New Vehicle Code Section 610.5 defines 'title,' 'certificate of title,' or 'certificate of ownership' as an official record, whether in paper or electronic form, establishing and providing proof of legal ownership of a vehicle.

TECHNICAL

Removed redundant parenthetical '(or more)' throughout Section 5600.5, so 'two (or more) or more coowners' becomes simply 'two or more coowners.'

Changed gendered pronoun 'his their personal representative' to 'their personal representative' in Section 5600.5 subsections (c).

FISCAL

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the fiscal committee will now review the bill.

Floor votes · Assembly May 21, 2026

How they voted

67–0

Passed · 12 other

Total votes 79

May 21, 2026

D Democratic59

50 Yea 9

84% Yea

R Republican20

17 Yea 3

85% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jul 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

upper

Jul 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on TRANS.

upper

May 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 68. Noes 0. Page 5230.)

lower

May 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 13).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on TRANS.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors