republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/ab-1096.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Educational instruction: language of instruction."
description: "Existing law requires English to be the basic language of instruction in all schools and authorizes the governing board of a school district or community college district, and any private school to determine when and under what circumstances instruction may be given bilingually. Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to ensure the mastery of English by all pupils in schools, as provided."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 1096"
citation: "California AB 1096 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Educational instruction", "language of instruction"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mike Fong"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-02-15"
last_action: "2023-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/71112670-84d7-4f89-9a83-60514322dfb8"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096"
source_hash: "b22d83c023dc6f487cddb091be907cc81004277c7f53d583579a986e66dd5179"
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 1096 (20232024) — Educational instruction: language of instruction.

Existing law requires English to be the basic language of instruction in all schools and authorizes the governing board of a school district or community college district, and any private school to determine when and under what circumstances instruction may be given bilingually. Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to ensure the mastery of English by all pupils in schools, as provided.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/15/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096&version=20230AB109699INT)
2. **03/08/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096&version=20230AB109698AMD)
3. **07/03/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096&version=20230AB109697AMD)
4. **10/08/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096&version=20230AB109695CHP)
5. **AB1096** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096)
6. **09/14/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1096&version=20230AB109696ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB1096 Mike Fong By Rubio — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 1096 Mike Fong Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 1096 Mike Fong Assembly Third Reading — **70–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mike Fong — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-15** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-16** From printer. May be heard in committee March 18.
- **2023-03-02** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-08** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ED. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-03-09** Re-referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16** Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 25). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-08** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 70. Noes 0. Page 1487.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-09** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2023-05-17** Referred to Coms. on ED. and APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-24** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2023-07-03** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on ED. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-07-13** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-14** In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (September 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2566.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-11** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 13 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2023-09-12** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 3228.)
- **2023-09-12** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3279.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-19** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2023-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 559, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/71112670-84d7-4f89-9a83-60514322dfb8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).