republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20092010/ab-117.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Accountants."
description: "Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of accountants by the California Board of Accountancy in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law prohibits a person or firm from using any title or designation in connection with the designation \"certified public accountant\" or \"public accountant\" that is false or misleading. A violation of specified provisions related to the practice of accountancy is a crime."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20092010"
identifier: "AB 117"
citation: "California AB 117 (20092010)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Accountants."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Niello"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2009-01-14"
last_action: "2009-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/14417946-e589-4816-bdc9-170bf07d83a0"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117"
source_hash: "dfedff59a6e0558f677cc4f5f47a6ceb316c258c7a8f28b641dcc7bfdf4a8965"
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 117 (20092010) — Accountants.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of accountants by the California Board of Accountancy in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law prohibits a person or firm from using any title or designation in connection with the designation "certified public accountant" or "public accountant" that is false or misleading. A violation of specified provisions related to the practice of accountancy is a crime.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/14/09 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11799INT)
2. **03/04/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11798AMD)
3. **03/12/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11797AMD)
4. **06/15/09 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11796AMD)
5. **10/11/09 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11794CHP)
6. **AB117** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117)
7. **08/20/09 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB117&version=20090AB11795ENR)

## Votes

- AB 117 NIELLO Consent Calendar Second Day — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Special Consent #12 AB117 Niello — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- AB 117 NIELLO Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Niello — primary (person)
- Ma — author (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2009-01-14** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2009-01-15** From printer. May be heard in committee February 14.
- **2009-02-26** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-04** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-03-05** Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-12** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-03-16** Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-17** From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Re-referred. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (March 17). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-04-01** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (April 1). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-04-02** Read second time. To Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-04-16** Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 70. Noes 0. Page 938.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-04-16** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2009-04-30** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2009-06-11** From committee: Amend, do pass as amended, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 8). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2009-06-15** Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, referral-committee, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-06-29** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2009-06-30** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-07-02** Ordered to Special Consent Calendar.
- **2009-07-09** Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 1665.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-07-09** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after July 11 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2009-08-17** Senate amendments concurred in. To enrollment. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 2598.) `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2009-08-24** Enrolled and to the Governor at 1:30 p.m.
- **2009-09-08** Returned by the Governor at the request of the Assembly.
- **2009-09-25** Enrolled and to the Governor at 5 p.m.
- **2009-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2009-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 409, Statutes of 2009.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/14417946-e589-4816-bdc9-170bf07d83a0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).