republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/sb-671.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pharmacy: biological product."
description: "The Pharmacy Law governs the practice of pharmacy in this state, including the permissible duties of licensed pharmacists. The Pharmacy Law authorizes a pharmacist filling a prescription order for a drug product prescribed by its trade or brand name to select another drug product with the same active chemical ingredients of the same strength, quantity, and dosage form, and of the same generic drug name as determined, as specified, of those drug products having the same active chemical ingredients. A knowing violation of the Pharmacy Law is a misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 671"
citation: "California SB 671 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pharmacy: biological product."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hill"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 29
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2015-02-27"
last_action: "2015-10-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/44e320a0-9bdc-4d3b-8b86-2e3c1d05710d"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671"
source_hash: "f11cba4cfd556184e0ca74020f5ce5ac83b23f8fb0a5c0f9c8d4ed0357d5e20b"
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 671 (20152016) — Pharmacy: biological product.

The Pharmacy Law governs the practice of pharmacy in this state, including the permissible duties of licensed pharmacists. The Pharmacy Law authorizes a pharmacist filling a prescription order for a drug product prescribed by its trade or brand name to select another drug product with the same active chemical ingredients of the same strength, quantity, and dosage form, and of the same generic drug name as determined, as specified, of those drug products having the same active chemical ingredients. A knowing violation of the Pharmacy Law is a misdemeanor.

## 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=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67199INT)
2. **04/14/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67198AMD)
3. **05/05/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67197AMD)
4. **06/23/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67196AMD)
5. **07/16/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67195AMD)
6. **10/06/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67193CHP)
7. **SB671** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671)
8. **08/31/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB671&version=20150SB67194ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **31–5** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 671 Hill Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Health] — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Health] — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB671 Hill Concurrence — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Hill — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-27** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2015-03-02** From printer. May be acted upon on or after April 1.
- **2015-03-02** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2015-03-12** Referred to Coms. on B., P. & E.D. and HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-24** Set for hearing April 13.
- **2015-04-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 591.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-14** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-15** Set for hearing April 29.
- **2015-05-04** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 862.) (April 29). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-05-05** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-08** Set for hearing May 18.
- **2015-05-18** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2015-05-19** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-05-22** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 31. Noes 5. Page 1067.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-22** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2015-06-11** Referred to Coms. on B. & P. and HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-23** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-30** June 30 hearing postponed by committee.
- **2015-07-07** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (July 7). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-07-15** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (July 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-07-16** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-08-19** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (August 19). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-08-20** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-08-27** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2638.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-08-27** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2015-08-31** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2273.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-09-01** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2015-10-06** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-10-06** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 545, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/44e320a0-9bdc-4d3b-8b86-2e3c1d05710d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).