---
type: "Bill"
title: "Charter bus transportation: safety improvements."
description: "The Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act imposes various requirements on charter-party carriers of passengers, and provides for the safety regulation of charter-party carriers of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation, as defined, by the Public Utilities Commission."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 247"
citation: "California SB 247 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Charter bus transportation: safety improvements."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lara"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 41
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2015-02-18"
last_action: "2016-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/52566560-fa87-41fa-a551-e43c3b90479c"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247"
source_hash: "aca76fb986b66bee9624c9365c16eeedbe15eaf87472ce660eb3ca61151317d5"
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 247 (20152016) — Charter bus transportation: safety improvements.

The Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act imposes various requirements on charter-party carriers of passengers, and provides for the safety regulation of charter-party carriers of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation, as defined, by the Public Utilities Commission.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/18/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24799INT)
2. **01/04/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24796AMD)
3. **01/26/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24795AMD)
4. **04/07/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24798AMD)
5. **05/26/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24794AMD)
6. **06/08/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24793AMD)
7. **07/16/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24797AMD)
8. **08/11/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24792AMD)
9. **09/27/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24790CHP)
10. **SB247** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247)
11. **08/26/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB247&version=20150SB24791ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB247 Lara Concurrence — **27–10** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Energy, Utilities and Communications] — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 247 Lara Senate Third Reading By GARCIA, E. — **60–17** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **26–4** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **13–5** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **13–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lara — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2015-02-19** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 21.
- **2015-02-26** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-13** Set for hearing March 25.
- **2015-04-06** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 418.) (March 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-04-07** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-01** Set for hearing May 11.
- **2015-05-11** May 11 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2015-05-23** Set for hearing May 28.
- **2015-05-28** May 28 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
- **2015-07-16** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-08-19** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2015-08-19** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2016-01-04** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-06** Set for hearing January 12 in T. & H. pending receipt.
- **2016-01-06** Re-referred to Coms. on T. & H. and E., U., & C. `referral-committee`
- **2016-01-08** Set for hearing January 13 in E., U., & C. pending receipt.
- **2016-01-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on E., U., & C. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 2886.) (January 12). Re-referred to Com. on E., U., & C. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-13** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 2895.) (January 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-14** Set for hearing January 19.
- **2016-01-19** January 19 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2016-01-20** Set for hearing January 21.
- **2016-01-25** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 2934.) (January 21). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-01-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-01-27** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 26. Noes 4. Page 2963.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-27** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2016-04-28** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-26** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-08** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-29** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 5.) (June 29). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** Read third time and amended. `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** Ordered to third reading.
- **2016-08-22** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 60. Noes 17. Page 6008.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-22** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2016-08-24** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 27. Noes 10. Page 5365.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-31** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2016-08-31** (Corrected August 29).
- **2016-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 705, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/52566560-fa87-41fa-a551-e43c3b90479c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).