---
type: "Bill"
title: "Early learning and childcare."
description: "(1) The Early Education Act, among other things, requires the Superintendent to administer all California state preschool programs, including, but not limited to, part-day and full-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. The act establishes eligibility criteria for those children."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 163"
citation: "California SB 163 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill", "appropriation"]
subjects: ["Early learning and childcare"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-01-18"
last_action: "2024-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/74d153d5-8e74-43a5-b821-a41bfa653a43"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163"
source_hash: "b85a6aec0c0b13a70a074ec5bd0ea07a6e7b3004bfe5b594b8ed7e680f10932f"
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 163 (20232024) — Early learning and childcare.

(1) The Early Education Act, among other things, requires the Superintendent to administer all California state preschool programs, including, but not limited to, part-day and full-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. The act establishes eligibility criteria for those children.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/18/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163&version=20230SB16399INT)
2. **06/22/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163&version=20230SB16398AMD)
3. **07/02/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163&version=20230SB16396CHP)
4. **SB163** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163)
5. **06/28/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB163&version=20230SB16397ENR)

## Votes

- SB 163 Budget and Fiscal Review Senate Third Reading By GABRIEL — **61–13** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading SB163 B. & F.R. — **29–8** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB163 B. & F.R. (Wiener) Concurrence — **31–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

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

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-01-19** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 18.
- **2023-01-25** Referred to Com. on B. & F.R. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16** Withdrawn from committee. (Ayes 28. Noes 8. Page 357.)
- **2023-03-16** Ordered to second reading.
- **2023-03-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-03-27** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 506.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-30** Referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-22** 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`
- **2024-06-24** Assembly Rule 96 suspended. (Ayes 55. Noes 14. Page 5978.)
- **2024-06-24** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2024-06-24** Ordered to second reading.
- **2024-06-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-06-26** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 61. Noes 13. Page 6032.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-06-26** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2024-06-26** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 31. Noes 6. Page 4778.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-07-02** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2024-07-02** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-02** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 73, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/74d153d5-8e74-43a5-b821-a41bfa653a43`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).