---
type: "Bill"
title: "Open meetings: public comments: translation."
description: "The Ralph M. Brown Act requires a local legislative body to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the body concerning any item described in a notice of meeting. The act authorizes the legislative body to adopt reasonable regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for public testimony for each individual speaker."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 1787"
citation: "California AB 1787 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Open meetings: public comments: translation."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gomez"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 27
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2016-02-04"
last_action: "2016-09-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b6a26408-1827-40b5-980c-4cfa34d69468"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787"
source_hash: "450ec75153454c7bdaa4534db1a326182cab21dada0ab6bb31d40131aa6b859b"
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 1787 (20152016) — Open meetings: public comments: translation.

The Ralph M. Brown Act requires a local legislative body to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the body concerning any item described in a notice of meeting. The act authorizes the legislative body to adopt reasonable regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for public testimony for each individual speaker.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/04/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787&version=20150AB178799INT)
2. **06/16/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787&version=20150AB178798AMD)
3. **08/02/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787&version=20150AB178797AMD)
4. **09/23/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787&version=20150AB178795CHP)
5. **AB1787** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787)
6. **08/31/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1787&version=20150AB178796ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- With recommendation: That Senate amendments be concurred in. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 1787 GOMEZ Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **69–9** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 1787 GOMEZ Assembly Third Reading — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB1787 Gomez By Nguyen — **32–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gomez — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-02-04** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2016-02-05** From printer. May be heard in committee March 6.
- **2016-02-18** Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-15** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (March 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-06** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (April 6). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-04-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 4263.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-11** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-04-28** Referred to Com. on E.Q. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-08** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-16** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2016-06-16** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-20** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2016-06-20** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-21** Re-referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-01** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 29). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-02** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-08** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-09** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-15** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 32. Noes 5. Page 4973.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-16** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 18 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-18** Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-25** From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) . `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-30** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 69. Noes 9. Page 6422.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-09-08** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2016-09-23** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-23** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 507, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b6a26408-1827-40b5-980c-4cfa34d69468`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).