republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20092010/ab-59.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alcoholic beverages: proof of age: military identification cards."
description: "The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act makes it a misdemeanor for any person under the age of 21 years to purchase any alcoholic beverage or consume any alcoholic beverage in any on‑sale premises. The act also subjects a holder of a license to sell alcoholic beverages to criminal prosecution and suspension or revocation of that license if the licensee sells any alcoholic beverages to any person under the age of 21 years. Existing law provides that a licensee's acceptance of bona fide evidence, as defined, constitutes a defense to any action against the licensee. Existing law requires that evidence to contain a description of the person."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20092010"
identifier: "AB 59"
citation: "California AB 59 (20092010)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alcoholic beverages: proof of age: military identification cards."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeffries"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2008-12-05"
last_action: "2009-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/091d2e63-e9e0-4015-9f44-4cd9d12fac32"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59"
source_hash: "462ee079ecbcdf252b74fb074013975ad27b287c6195e1d5aee461e4fb554bd5"
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 59 (20092010) — Alcoholic beverages: proof of age: military identification cards.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act makes it a misdemeanor for any person under the age of 21 years to purchase any alcoholic beverage or consume any alcoholic beverage in any on‑sale premises. The act also subjects a holder of a license to sell alcoholic beverages to criminal prosecution and suspension or revocation of that license if the licensee sells any alcoholic beverages to any person under the age of 21 years. Existing law provides that a licensee's acceptance of bona fide evidence, as defined, constitutes a defense to any action against the licensee. Existing law requires that evidence to contain a description of the person.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/05/08 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59&version=20090AB5999INT)
2. **05/11/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59&version=20090AB5998AMD)
3. **07/09/09 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59&version=20090AB5997AMD)
4. **10/11/09 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59&version=20090AB5995CHP)
5. **AB59** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59)
6. **09/03/09 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB59&version=20090AB5996ENR)

## Votes

- Assembly 3rd Reading AB59 Jeffries By Denham — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- AB 59 JEFFRIES Assembly Third Reading — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- AB 59 JEFFRIES Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeffries — primary (person)
- Cook — coauthor (person)
- DeVore — coauthor (person)
- Fletcher — coauthor (person)
- Galgiani — coauthor (person)
- Gilmore — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2008-12-05** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2008-12-08** From printer. May be heard in committee January 7.
- **2008-12-08** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2009-02-05** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-23** From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 13. Noes 3.) (April 22). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-05-07** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 14. Noes 2.) (May 6). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2009-05-11** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-05-12** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-05-18** Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 1. Page 1547.) `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 G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2009-06-23** From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 23). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-07-06** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2009-07-07** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-07-09** Read third time, amended. To second reading. `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-07-13** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-08-27** Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1975.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-08-27** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 30 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2009-09-01** Senate amendments concurred in. To enrollment. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2846.) `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2009-09-08** Enrolled and to the Governor at 4:15 p.m.
- **2009-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2009-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 405, Statutes of 2009.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/091d2e63-e9e0-4015-9f44-4cd9d12fac32`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).