---
type: "Bill"
title: "Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of Rights."
description: "Existing law provides for a system of postsecondary education in this state. This system includes the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education. Existing law establishes a Student Athlete Bill of Rights, which, among other things, provides for the protection of athletic scholarships for student athletes and requires certain institutions of higher education to pay the premiums for specified student athletes for insurance claims resulting from their participation in those institutions' athletic programs. Existing law repeals the provisions granting these rights to student athletes on January 1, 2021."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 735"
citation: "California AB 735 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of Rights."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ridley-Thomas"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2015-02-25"
last_action: "2016-08-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c25501f5-b634-4b75-b946-810ab2f99fea"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735"
source_hash: "dfb3cdc7d6cf3bcb4eb0a876266fa1d798f1de0ea2afdedf3ee74c96f697a2b6"
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 735 (20152016) — Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of Rights.

Existing law provides for a system of postsecondary education in this state. This system includes the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education. Existing law establishes a Student Athlete Bill of Rights, which, among other things, provides for the protection of athletic scholarships for student athletes and requires certain institutions of higher education to pay the premiums for specified student athletes for insurance claims resulting from their participation in those institutions' athletic programs. Existing law repeals the provisions granting these rights to student athletes on January 1, 2021.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/25/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735&version=20150AB73599INT)
2. **01/04/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735&version=20150AB73598AMD)
3. **08/29/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735&version=20150AB73596CHP)
4. **AB735** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735)
5. **08/12/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB735&version=20150AB73597ENR)

## Votes

- AB 735 RIDLEY-THOMAS Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Consent Calendar 2nd AB735 Ridley-Thomas — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Higher Education] — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ridley-Thomas — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-25** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2015-02-26** From printer. May be heard in committee March 28.
- **2015-03-12** Referred to Coms. on A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. and HIGHER ED. `referral-committee`
- **2016-01-04** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-04** Re-referred to Com. on A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. `referral-committee`
- **2016-01-05** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HIGHER ED. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (January 5). Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (January 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-21** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (January 21). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-21** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-01-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 3508.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-27** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-02-04** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-29** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-01** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-02** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 4872.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2016-08-29** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-08-29** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 220, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c25501f5-b634-4b75-b946-810ab2f99fea`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).