republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-638.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Vessels: personal flotation devices."
description: "Existing law regulates the safe operation of various types of vessels navigating the state's ports and harbors. Existing law prohibits a person from operating a motorboat, sailboat, or vessel that is 26 feet or less in length unless every person on board who is under 13 years of age is wearing a specified type of wearable personal flotation device while that motorboat, sailboat, or vessel is underway, as defined, except, among other circumstances, if the person under 13 years of age is in an enclosed cabin. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines \"enclosed cabin\" to mean a space on board a vessel that is surrounded by bulkheads and covered by a roof."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 638"
citation: "California AB 638 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Vessels: personal flotation devices."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Frazier"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2015-02-24"
last_action: "2015-07-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5fa0395b-ea73-435a-ae81-f82779f466ba"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638"
source_hash: "6db724e3dfed36d9e0bbf256b66642df33a78172087d76ceb45d7c89c8616bc2"
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 638 (20152016) — Vessels: personal flotation devices.

Existing law regulates the safe operation of various types of vessels navigating the state's ports and harbors. Existing law prohibits a person from operating a motorboat, sailboat, or vessel that is 26 feet or less in length unless every person on board who is under 13 years of age is wearing a specified type of wearable personal flotation device while that motorboat, sailboat, or vessel is underway, as defined, except, among other circumstances, if the person under 13 years of age is in an enclosed cabin. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines "enclosed cabin" to mean a space on board a vessel that is surrounded by bulkheads and covered by a roof.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/24/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638&version=20150AB63899INT)
2. **03/26/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638&version=20150AB63898AMD)
3. **06/16/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638&version=20150AB63897AMD)
4. **07/13/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638&version=20150AB63895CHP)
5. **AB638** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638)
6. **06/29/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB638&version=20150AB63896ENR)

## Votes

- Special Consent #3 — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 638 FRAZIER Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 638 FRAZIER Assembly Third Reading — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **9–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Frazier — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-24** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2015-02-25** From printer. May be heard in committee March 27.
- **2015-03-26** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-26** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-06** Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 13). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-04-16** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 975.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-16** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2015-05-07** Referred to Com. on N.R. & W. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 9). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-06-16** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-06-17** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2015-06-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1549.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-23** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after June 25 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2015-06-25** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 2141.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-07-01** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2:30 p.m.
- **2015-07-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-07-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 75, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5fa0395b-ea73-435a-ae81-f82779f466ba`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).