republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-321.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Childcare services: enrollment priority."
description: "The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, requires the department to administer childcare and development programs that offer a full range of services to eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, inclusive. The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Both acts require that families meet specified requirements to be eligible for federal- and state-subsidized childcare and development services and preschool programs, including, among other requirements, that the family needs childcare services or full-day preschool because, among other reasons, the family is homeless, the child's parents are seeking employment or permanent housing, or the child's parents are employed."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 321"
citation: "California AB 321 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Childcare services: enrollment priority."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Valladares"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 39
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2021-01-26"
last_action: "2022-09-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/10aeb990-547b-465e-9a62-1ddc08842685"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321"
source_hash: "b6b74d014c611326e69fa3e44fd8a561a6a646f30082f2a47d96024a79c32cdd"
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 321 (20212022) — Childcare services: enrollment priority.

The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, requires the department to administer childcare and development programs that offer a full range of services to eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, inclusive. The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Both acts require that families meet specified requirements to be eligible for federal- and state-subsidized childcare and development services and preschool programs, including, among other requirements, that the family needs childcare services or full-day preschool because, among other reasons, the family is homeless, the child's parents are seeking employment or permanent housing, or the child's parents are employed.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/26/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32199INT)
2. **01/03/22 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32196AMD)
3. **02/23/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32198AMD)
4. **04/06/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32197AMD)
5. **08/11/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32195AMD)
6. **08/18/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32194AMD)
7. **08/22/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32193AMD)
8. **08/26/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32192AMD)
9. **09/30/22 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32190CHP)
10. **AB321** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321)
11. **09/02/22 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB321&version=20210AB32191ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Human Services] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 321 Valladares Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **80–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Special Consent AB321 — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Education] — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 321 Valladares Assembly Third Reading — **68–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Valladares — primary (person)
- Davies — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-26** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-27** From printer. May be heard in committee February 26.
- **2021-02-12** Referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-23** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-06** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-04-07** Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2022-01-03** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-01-03** Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-03** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 3186.)
- **2022-01-11** Coauthors revised.
- **2022-01-11** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on ED. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (January 11). Re-referred to Com. on ED. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-01-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (January 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-01-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (January 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-01-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-01-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 68. Noes 0. Page 3399.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-01-27** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2022-05-04** Referred to Coms. on ED. and HUMAN S. `referral-committee`
- **2022-06-01** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUMAN S. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 1). Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-06-07** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2022-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-08-02** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2022-08-11** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 11). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2022-08-11** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-18** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-22** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-23** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-26** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-29** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-30** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2022-08-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 5366.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-31** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2022-08-31** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-09-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2022-09-30** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-09-30** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 903, Statutes of 2022. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/10aeb990-547b-465e-9a62-1ddc08842685`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).