republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-1359.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Optometry: therapeutic pharmaceutical agents certification: requirements."
description: "(1) The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of optometrists by the State Board of Optometry. The act defines the practice of optometry to include the prevention and diagnosis of disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system, and the treatment and management of certain disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system, as well as the provision of rehabilitative optometric services, and authorizes optometrists to engage in specified acts if certain requirements are met, including, the use of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. The act authorizes the board to grant a certificate to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents to an applicant who graduated from a California accredited school of optometry, prior to January 1, 1996, and is licensed as an optometrist in the state if certain requirements are met, including, but not limited to, completing a didactic course of at least 80 classroom hours in the diagnosis, pharmacological, and other treatment and management of ocular disease, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 1359"
citation: "California AB 1359 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Optometry: therapeutic pharmaceutical agents certification: requirements."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nazarian"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2015-02-27"
last_action: "2015-10-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/246e0efc-3ff4-43ff-96e3-fa6734c98bfe"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359"
source_hash: "d2e0a2599aac7619180e9941e7db289e114214f2b3351c17e7e8f38c64c252b2"
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 1359 (20152016) — Optometry: therapeutic pharmaceutical agents certification: requirements.

(1) The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of optometrists by the State Board of Optometry. The act defines the practice of optometry to include the prevention and diagnosis of disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system, and the treatment and management of certain disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system, as well as the provision of rehabilitative optometric services, and authorizes optometrists to engage in specified acts if certain requirements are met, including, the use of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. The act authorizes the board to grant a certificate to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents to an applicant who graduated from a California accredited school of optometry, prior to January 1, 1996, and is licensed as an optometrist in the state if certain requirements are met, including, but not limited to, completing a didactic course of at least 80 classroom hours in the diagnosis, pharmacological, and other treatment and management of ocular disease, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/27/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359&version=20150AB135999INT)
2. **06/16/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359&version=20150AB135998AMD)
3. **10/02/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359&version=20150AB135996CHP)
4. **AB1359** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359)
5. **08/26/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1359&version=20150AB135997ENR)

## Votes

- AB 1359 NAZARIAN Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 1359 NAZARIAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **80–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB1359 Nazarian By Berryhill — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **14–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Nazarian — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-27** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2015-03-01** From printer. May be heard in committee March 31.
- **2015-03-02** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2015-03-23** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-29** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-05-06** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (May 6). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-05-07** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-05-14** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1450.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-14** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2015-05-28** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 15). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-06-16** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-29** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2015-06-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-08-20** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2109.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-08-20** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 22 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2015-08-24** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 2562.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-09-01** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2015-10-02** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-10-02** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 443, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/246e0efc-3ff4-43ff-96e3-fa6734c98bfe`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).