republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/ab-47.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Driver records: points: distracted driving."
description: "Existing law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving. Existing law also prohibits a person from driving while holding and operating a handheld wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device unless the telephone or device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation, and is used in that manner while driving. A person who is 18 years of age or younger is prohibited from driving while using a wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device, even if equipped with a hands-free device."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "AB 47"
citation: "California AB 47 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Driver records: points: distracted driving."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Daly"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2018-12-03"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dade98e4-00ea-46d3-843b-1c888a2ef146"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47"
source_hash: "157200faa992c7c10466d04907e0ac09102ee72cc87964523c6d9a798928e34a"
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 47 (20192020) — Driver records: points: distracted driving.

Existing law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving. Existing law also prohibits a person from driving while holding and operating a handheld wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device unless the telephone or device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation, and is used in that manner while driving. A person who is 18 years of age or younger is prohibited from driving while using a wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device, even if equipped with a hands-free device.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/03/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4799INT)
2. **01/23/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4798AMD)
3. **05/16/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4797AMD)
4. **06/26/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4796AMD)
5. **08/20/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4795AMD)
6. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4793CHP)
7. **AB47** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47)
8. **09/04/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB47&version=20190AB4794ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended. — **13–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB47 Daly By Skinner — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 47 Daly Assembly Third Reading — **75–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 47 Daly Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **13–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Daly — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-12-03** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2018-12-04** From printer. May be heard in committee January 3.
- **2019-01-17** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-23** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2019-01-24** Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-31** Measure version as amended on January 23 corrected. `amendment-passage`
- **2019-03-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (March 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-20** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2019-05-08** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-16** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (May 16). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2019-05-16** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-23** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 1916.) `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-24** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2019-06-06** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-25** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 25). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2019-06-26** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-07-08** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 8). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-07-09** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-08-20** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-21** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-08-26** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2281.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-27** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 29 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2019-09-03** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 2943.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 603, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dade98e4-00ea-46d3-843b-1c888a2ef146`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).