---
type: "Bill"
title: "State Employment: State Bargaining Unit 6."
description: "Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 159"
citation: "California SB 159 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill", "appropriation"]
subjects: ["State Employment: State Bargaining Unit 6."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 21
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-01-08"
last_action: "2021-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9f730006-6aeb-4791-b34d-cbe4bd5a241e"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159"
source_hash: "b8bec95a5245fce0ab5a48591c3b4bba38730aeb392e1cd6408efc73f4b3fcb3"
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 159 (20212022) — State Employment: State Bargaining Unit 6.

Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/08/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159&version=20210SB15999INT)
2. **06/25/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159&version=20210SB15998AMD)
3. **07/01/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159&version=20210SB15996CHP)
4. **SB159** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159)
5. **07/01/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB159&version=20210SB15997ENR)

## Votes

- Unfinished Business SB159 B. & F.R. (Skinner) Concurrence — **32–5** (pass) · upper
- SB 159 B. & F. R. Senate Third Reading By TING — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading SB159 — **29–8** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-08** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 10.
- **2021-01-11** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-28** Referred to Com. on B. & F.R. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** Withdrawn from committee. (Ayes 26. Noes 5. Page 201.)
- **2021-02-16** Ordered to second reading.
- **2021-02-17** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-02-22** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 288.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-25** Referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-25** (Corrected May 14).
- **2021-06-25** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-01** Assembly Rule 63 and 96 suspended. (Ayes 57. Noes 18. Page 2188.)
- **2021-07-01** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2021-07-01** Ordered to third reading.
- **2021-07-01** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2192.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-07-01** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2021-07-01** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 32. Noes 5. Page 1768.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-07-01** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2:30 p.m.
- **2021-07-01** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-07-01** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 42, 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/9f730006-6aeb-4791-b34d-cbe4bd5a241e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).