SB 765: State snake. - California

06/23/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/04/25 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Sep 4, 2025

MINOR

SB 765 transitions from its amended assembly version to the enrolled version, with no substantive policy changes. The core provision (establishing the giant garter snake as California's official state snake) remains identical. The changes consist of procedural formatting updates for enrollment and editorial corrections that clean up garbled or duplicated language in the legislative findings section that resulted from a flawed amendment process.

TECHNICAL

The legislative findings in Section 1 were cleaned up to remove garbled, duplicated, or contradictory language that appeared in the amended version. For example, subsection (a) had overlapping sentences about the snake's range that were consolidated into a single clear statement. Subsection (c) had mixed-together text about habitat that was corrected to read coherently.

The opening of subsection (d) previously stated 'The giant garter snake is a threatened species and its population has declined by more than 90 percent in the past century.' This sentence was removed from the enrolled version, which now begins subsection (d) with 'The primary threats to the snake's survival are habitat loss and degradation.' The 90 percent figure is retained later in reference to wetland loss specifically.

Standard enrollment formatting was added: passage dates (Senate September 2, 2025; Assembly July 7, 2025), signature blocks for the Secretary of the Senate, Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Private Secretary of the Governor, and a gubernatorial approval line. The digest was updated from 'SB 765, as amended, Niello' to 'SB 765, Niello.'

02/21/25 - Introduced → 06/23/25 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Jun 23, 2025

MODERATE

The Assembly amended SB 765 by substantially expanding the legislative findings in Section 1 to emphasize the dramatic decline of the giant garter snake's range and habitat. The changes shift language from present tense to past tense for natural habitats, add a specific finding that over 90 percent of the Central Valley's historic wetlands have been lost, name vehicular traffic as an additional threat, and state explicitly that conservation efforts under existing endangered species laws have not led to population recovery. The operative provision (Section 2) designating the giant garter snake as the official state snake is unchanged.

SCOPE

Section 1(a) now states the snake 'was historically found throughout' the Central Valley but 'now its range is limited to' the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, replacing the original present-tense description of where it lives.

Section 1(c) changes from describing habitats where the snake 'survives' to saying it 'historically made its home in' those habitats, and notes the snake is now 'primarily found in agricultural areas' whose canals 'resemble the natural marshes that had provided habitat for the snake.'

Section 1(d) adds vehicular traffic as a direct threat to the species, alongside predation by nonnative species.

Section 1(d) adds the statement that 'Despite efforts under these Acts, the giant garter snake population has not recovered,' explicitly acknowledging the failure of existing conservation measures.

REQUIREMENT

Section 1(d) adds a specific finding that agricultural conversion and urban development have resulted in the loss of over 90 percent of the Central Valley's historic wetlands, reducing and fragmenting giant garter snake habitat.

10/09/25 - Chaptered → SB765

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The diff reflects only a change in document format: the first version is the official chaptered law as printed in the California Statutes, while the second is a web page rendering from the California Legislature website that includes navigation elements, metadata, and different line breaks. The actual legislative text (Section 1 findings and Section 2 adding Government Code 422.6) is identical in both.

09/04/25 - Enrolled → 10/09/25 - Chaptered · 3 edits · Oct 9, 2025

MINOR

SB 765 was approved by the Governor on October 9, 2025, and assigned Chapter 482. All changes between the enrolled and chaptered versions are purely technical: header formatting, page numbers, line breaks, and the addition of the chapter number and approval date. No substantive policy language was altered.

TECHNICAL

Chapter number 482 was assigned to the bill upon gubernatorial approval.

Header changed from Senate Bill passage format to the standard 'State of California Authenticated Electronic Legal Material' chaptered bill format.

TIMELINE

The Governor's approval date (October 9, 2025) and filing date were recorded in the chaptered version.

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