republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/sb-544.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Railroad crossings: permit applications: review.	Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has the exclusive power to, among other things, determine and prescribe the manner and the terms of installation, operation, maintenance, use, and protection of railroad crossings. Existing law prohibits the construction of a public road, highway, or street across the track of any railroad corporation at grade and other specified actions with regard to railroad crossings without the permission of the commission.	us/states/ca	California Legislature	20252026	SB 544	California SB 544 (20252026)	bill	Railroadcrossings permitapplications review	enacted	Laird	5	26	7	2025-02-20	2025-10-01	openstates	ocd-bill/3dbb406e-9f88-43d0-a2d0-cc6ebadd041b	http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB544	8c9271e59b80370ba86e49c1304f7835a976b2810f4a9509bf32f16fdd89b962	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ca

California SB 544 (20252026) — Railroad crossings: permit applications: review.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has the exclusive power to, among other things, determine and prescribe the manner and the terms of installation, operation, maintenance, use, and protection of railroad crossings. Existing law prohibits the construction of a public road, highway, or street across the track of any railroad corporation at grade and other specified actions with regard to railroad crossings without the permission of the commission.

Version chain

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

1. 02/20/25 - Introduced (filed) — source
2. 07/14/25 - Amended Assembly (committee substitute) — source
3. 10/01/25 - Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
4. SB544 (committee substitute) — source
5. 09/04/25 - Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Do pass as amended, and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — 18–0 (pass) · lower
• Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Transportation] — 16–0 (pass) · upper
• Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — 15–0 (pass) · lower
• Consent Calendar 2nd — 37–0 (pass) · upper
• Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — 15–0 (pass) · upper
• SB 544 Laird Consent Calendar Second Day — 74–0 (pass) · lower
• Unfinished Business SB544 Laird Concurrence — 40–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Laird — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-02-20 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
• 2025-02-21 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
• 2025-03-05 Referred to Coms. on E., U & C. and TRANS. referral-committee
• 2025-03-17 Set for hearing March 24.
• 2025-03-25 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 16. Noes 0. Page 512.) (March 24). Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
• 2025-03-27 Set for hearing April 8.
• 2025-04-09 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0. Page 710.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
• 2025-04-10 Set for hearing April 21.
• 2025-04-21 April 21 hearing postponed by committee.
• 2025-04-22 Set for hearing April 28.
• 2025-04-28 From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. committee-passage, reading-2
• 2025-04-29 Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-05-01 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 984.) Ordered to the Assembly. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-05-01 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
• 2025-05-19 Referred to Com. on U. & E. referral-committee
• 2025-06-25 June 25 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author.
• 2025-07-10 From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (July 9). amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-07-14 Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee
• 2025-08-20 From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 20). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-08-21 Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-08-28 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 2776.) Ordered to the Senate. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-08-28 In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
• 2025-09-02 Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2409.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-09-09 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
• 2025-10-01 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
• 2025-10-01 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 224, Statutes of 2025. became-law

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/3dbb406e-9f88-43d0-a2d0-cc6ebadd041b. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).