---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public postsecondary education: Access to Higher Education for Every Student."
description: "(1) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University; the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California; the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges; and independent institutions of higher education as the 4 segments of postsecondary education in this state."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 21"
citation: "California AB 21 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public postsecondary education: Access to Higher Education for Every Student."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kalra"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 36
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2016-12-05"
last_action: "2017-10-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e11ace0a-fba3-4dbd-a9d5-18984b66b9f0"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21"
source_hash: "3644a4446f26b7a4de62850f3e4ee97a855f781f199ea63eb390310afd207982"
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 21 (20172018) — Public postsecondary education: Access to Higher Education for Every Student.

(1) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University; the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California; the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges; and independent institutions of higher education as the 4 segments of postsecondary education in this state.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/05/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2199INT)
2. **03/15/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2198AMD)
3. **04/24/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2197AMD)
4. **05/30/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2196AMD)
5. **07/05/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2194AMD)
6. **07/18/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2193AMD)
7. **09/01/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2192AMD)
8. **09/08/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2191AMD)
9. **10/05/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2189CHP)
10. **AB21** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21)
11. **09/15/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB21&version=20170AB2190ENR)

## Votes

- AB 21 KALRA Assembly Third Reading — **55–23** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **12–5** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB21 Kalra et al. By Hueso — **29–8** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–3** (pass) · lower
- AB 21 Kalra Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **58–19** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **8–4** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kalra — primary (person)
- Bonta — coauthor (person)
- Chau — coauthor (person)
- Chiu — author (person)
- Chu — coauthor (person)
- Cristina Garcia — coauthor (person)
- Hernandez — coauthor (person)
- Limón — coauthor (person)
- Muratsuchi — coauthor (person)
- O'Donnell — author (person)
- Pan — coauthor (person)
- Santiago — coauthor (person)
- Ting — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-12-05** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2016-12-06** From printer. May be heard in committee January 5.
- **2017-01-19** Referred to Coms. on HIGHER ED. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-14** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2017-03-15** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HIGHER ED. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-03-16** Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-29** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 8. Noes 4.) (March 28). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2017-04-20** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 3.) (April 18). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-04-24** Read second time and amended. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-04-25** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-10** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-26** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (May 26). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-05-30** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-05-30** Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 52. Noes 24. Page 1776.)
- **2017-05-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-05-30** Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. (Page 1853.) `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2017-06-01** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 55. Noes 23. Page 2063.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-06-05** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2017-06-14** Referred to Coms. on ED. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-07-03** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 28). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-07-05** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1`
- **2017-07-17** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (July 11). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-07-18** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1`
- **2017-08-21** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2017-09-01** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (September 1). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-09-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-09-08** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2017-09-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-09-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 2782.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-09-13** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 15 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2017-09-13** Assembly Rule 77(a) suspended. (Ayes 54. Noes 25. Page 3255.)
- **2017-09-13** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 58. Noes 19. Page 3314.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2017-09-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2017-10-05** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-10-05** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 488, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e11ace0a-fba3-4dbd-a9d5-18984b66b9f0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).