republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/sb-172.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pupil testing: high school exit examination: suspension."
description: "Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop a high school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in accordance with state academic content standards. Existing law requires, commencing with the 2003–04 school year and each school year thereafter, each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass the high school exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 172"
citation: "California SB 172 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pupil testing: high school exit examination: suspension."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Liu"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 29
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2015-02-05"
last_action: "2015-10-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bd29f6d8-c8b0-4bbd-a2e4-a50199075070"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172"
source_hash: "7e2784a0b04b21be008d984c06dddeabef1b6aa3a6d9f274ae903afdad720b9e"
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 SB 172 (20152016) — Pupil testing: high school exit examination: suspension.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop a high school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in accordance with state academic content standards. Existing law requires, commencing with the 2003–04 school year and each school year thereafter, each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass the high school exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/05/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17299INT)
2. **04/06/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17298AMD)
3. **06/23/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17297AMD)
4. **07/09/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17296AMD)
5. **09/01/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17295AMD)
6. **09/04/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17294AMD)
7. **10/07/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17292CHP)
8. **SB172** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172)
9. **09/10/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB172&version=20150SB17293ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading — **25–14** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–2** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB172 Liu Concurrence — **24–14** (pass) · upper
- SB 172 Liu Senate Third Reading By BONILLA Amend By BONILLA Set #1 — **51–27** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **12–5** (pass) · lower
- SB 172 Liu Senate Third Reading By BONILLA — **49–25** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **5–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Liu — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-05** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2015-02-06** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 8.
- **2015-02-19** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-02** Set for hearing April 15.
- **2015-04-06** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-16** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 2. Page 647.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-24** Set for hearing May 4.
- **2015-05-04** May 4 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2015-05-23** Set for hearing May 28.
- **2015-05-28** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1148.) (May 28). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-05-28** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-06-01** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 25. Noes 14. Page 1197.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2015-06-11** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-23** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-07-08** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 1). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-07-09** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-07-15** July 15 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2015-08-31** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-09-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-09-02** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-09-04** Read third time and amended. (Ayes 51. Noes 27. Page 2898.) `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-09-04** Ordered to third reading.
- **2015-09-08** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 49. Noes 25. Page 2967.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-09-08** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2015-09-10** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 24. Noes 14. Page 2672.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-09-11** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 10:45 p.m.
- **2015-10-07** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-10-07** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 572, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bd29f6d8-c8b0-4bbd-a2e4-a50199075070`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).