republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20092010/ab-361.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Workers' compensation: treatment authorization."
description: "Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires every employer to establish a medical treatment utilization review process, in compliance with specified requirements, either directly or through its insurer or an entity with which the employer or insurer contracts for these services."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20092010"
identifier: "AB 361"
citation: "California AB 361 (20092010)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Workers' compensation: treatment authorization."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonnie Lowenthal"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2009-02-23"
last_action: "2009-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e1c75a13-c9a9-4222-8ce6-4bebf7a2ac35"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361"
source_hash: "c8fcd616725bcc61730d12e09a13934fdb653f31fe00e41b626b9bbf48131de3"
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 361 (20092010) — Workers' compensation: treatment authorization.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires every employer to establish a medical treatment utilization review process, in compliance with specified requirements, either directly or through its insurer or an entity with which the employer or insurer contracts for these services.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/23/09 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36199INT)
2. **04/28/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36198AMD)
3. **05/14/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36197AMD)
4. **06/16/09 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36196AMD)
5. **09/02/09 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36195AMD)
6. **10/11/09 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36193CHP)
7. **AB361** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361)
8. **09/14/09 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB361&version=20090AB36194ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- AB 361 LOWENTHAL Assembly Third Reading — **pass** (pass) · lower
- AB 361 LOWENTHAL Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Assembly 3rd Reading AB361 Bonnie Lowenthal By DeSaulnier — **pass** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bonnie Lowenthal — primary (person)
- Ammiano — coauthor (person)
- Coto — coauthor (person)
- Torlakson — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2009-02-23** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2009-02-24** From printer. May be heard in committee March 26.
- **2009-03-09** Referred to Com. on INS. `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-27** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (April 22). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2009-04-28** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-04-29** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-05-14** Read third time, amended, and returned to third reading. (Page 1439.). `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-05-18** Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1528.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-05-18** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2009-06-04** Referred to Com. on L. & I.R. `referral-committee`
- **2009-06-16** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R. `amendment-introduction, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee, reading-1`
- **2009-06-22** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2009-06-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-06-28** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-09-02** Read third time, amended. To second reading. `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-09-03** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-09-04** Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 33. Noes 6. Page 2208.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-09-08** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 10 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2009-09-09** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 3152.)
- **2009-09-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To enrollment. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 3167.) `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **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 436, Statutes of 2009.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e1c75a13-c9a9-4222-8ce6-4bebf7a2ac35`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).