republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-628.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative."
description: "Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, makes programs and services available to individuals with employment barriers and requires the California Workforce Development Board to assist the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law establishes the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative, which includes a grant program administered by the board to support prescribed education and training activities. Existing law creates the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative Fund, as specified, in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund are subject to appropriation by the Legislature for the purpose of carrying out these provisions in support of the initiative. Implementation of the initiative is contingent upon the board notifying the Department of Finance that sufficient moneys have been appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 628"
citation: "California AB 628 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eduardo Garcia"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 30
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2021-02-12"
last_action: "2021-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e024952f-c036-472a-bcfb-5d7a93a3aba3"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628"
source_hash: "756a49f9614fbaff5a26872bed0831ba87815a0c31bd4f126c6f8f0276346897"
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 628 (20212022) — Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative.

Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, makes programs and services available to individuals with employment barriers and requires the California Workforce Development Board to assist the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law establishes the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative, which includes a grant program administered by the board to support prescribed education and training activities. Existing law creates the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative Fund, as specified, in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund are subject to appropriation by the Legislature for the purpose of carrying out these provisions in support of the initiative. Implementation of the initiative is contingent upon the board notifying the Department of Finance that sufficient moneys have been appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/12/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62899INT)
2. **03/24/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62898AMD)
3. **05/03/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62897AMD)
4. **06/16/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62896AMD)
5. **06/30/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62895AMD)
6. **08/26/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62894AMD)
7. **09/27/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62892CHP)
8. **AB628** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628)
9. **09/13/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB628&version=20210AB62893ENR)

## Votes

- Special Consent AB628 — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **13–3** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy] — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 628 Eduardo Garcia Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 628 Eduardo Garcia Assembly Third Reading — **69–5** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Eduardo Garcia — primary (person)
- Blanca Rubio — coauthor (person)
- Chiu — coauthor (person)
- Cristina Garcia — coauthor (person)
- Reyes — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-12** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-13** From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
- **2021-02-25** Referred to Coms. on L. & E. and J.,E.D., & E. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-24** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on L. & E. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-03-25** Re-referred to Com. on L. & E. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-08** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on J.,E.D., & E. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on J.,E.D., & E. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-29** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (April 27). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-03** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-04** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-12** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 3.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 69. Noes 5. Page 1637.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-05-28** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-09** Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-16** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2021-06-16** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-06-29** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 1694.) (June 28). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-06-30** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-15** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-08-26** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 26). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2021-08-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-09-03** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2021-09-08** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2489.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-08** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2021-09-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 3006.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-17** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2021-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 323, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e024952f-c036-472a-bcfb-5d7a93a3aba3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).