---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pupil attendance: excused absences: civic or political events."
description: "Existing law, notwithstanding the requirement that each person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not otherwise exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education, requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences, including, among others, if the absence was due to the pupil's illness."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 955"
citation: "California SB 955 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pupil attendance: excused absences: civic or political events."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Leyva"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 26
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-02-09"
last_action: "2022-09-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/803c781d-0f67-4544-bfbb-8e737082680c"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955"
source_hash: "ba170eaf8ab44b341455c68cfaa425a3289194eb811960098a68fd73bf358b48"
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 955 (20212022) — Pupil attendance: excused absences: civic or political events.

Existing law, notwithstanding the requirement that each person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not otherwise exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education, requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences, including, among others, if the absence was due to the pupil's illness.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/09/22 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955&version=20210SB95599INT)
2. **06/20/22 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955&version=20210SB95598AMD)
3. **08/15/22 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955&version=20210SB95597AMD)
4. **09/30/22 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955&version=20210SB95595CHP)
5. **SB955** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955)
6. **08/24/22 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB955&version=20210SB95596ENR)

## Votes

- Unfinished Business SB955 Leyva Concurrence — **30–9** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **12–4** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–2** (pass) · lower
- SB 955 Leyva Senate Third Reading By Lee — **56–16** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **27–10** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Leyva — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-02-09** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-02-09** Article IV Section 8(a) of the Constitution and Joint Rule 55 dispensed with February 7, 2022, suspending the 30 calendar day requirement.
- **2022-02-10** From printer.
- **2022-02-16** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-24** Set for hearing April 6.
- **2022-04-06** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 2. Page 3348.) (April 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-04-22** Set for hearing May 2.
- **2022-05-02** May 2 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
- **2022-05-13** Set for hearing May 19.
- **2022-05-19** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 3776.) (May 19). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-05-19** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-05-24** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 27. Noes 10. Page 3887.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-05-25** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2022-05-27** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2022-06-16** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 2.) (June 15). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-06-20** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2022-06-29** June 29 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
- **2022-08-11** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (August 11). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-08-15** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-16** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-18** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 56. Noes 16. Page 5947.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-18** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2022-08-22** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 9. Page 4936.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-08-26** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2022-09-30** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-09-30** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 921, Statutes of 2022. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/803c781d-0f67-4544-bfbb-8e737082680c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).