---
type: "Bill"
title: "California Public Records Act."
description: "The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 473"
citation: "California AB 473 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["California Public Records Act."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chau"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 25
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-08"
last_action: "2021-10-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/321012a4-4227-4c97-bf62-88c01d8d0ec3"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473"
source_hash: "5e7c4da6c32fc270500ed361c990940cfbab43eb17c7d30002ce5aa7b21bdf85"
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 473 (20212022) — California Public Records Act.

The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/08/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473&version=20210AB47399INT)
2. **08/16/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473&version=20210AB47398AMD)
3. **10/07/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473&version=20210AB47396CHP)
4. **AB473** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473)
5. **09/03/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB473&version=20210AB47397ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB473 Chau By Roth — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 473 Chau Assembly Third Reading — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 473 Chau Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chau — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-08** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-09** From printer. May be heard in committee March 11.
- **2021-02-18** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-23** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (March 23). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-24** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-04-05** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Assembly Rule 97. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-06-03** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1890.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-06-07** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-16** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-30** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 1716.) (June 29). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-07-01** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-07-08** From Consent Calendar.
- **2021-07-08** Ordered to third reading.
- **2021-08-16** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-08-17** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-30** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2223.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-08-31** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 2 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2021-09-01** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 58. Noes 17. Page 2625.)
- **2021-09-01** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2629.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-08** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2021-10-07** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-10-07** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 614, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/321012a4-4227-4c97-bf62-88c01d8d0ec3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).