republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/sb-509.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Optometry: COVID-19 pandemic: temporary licenses."
description: "The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of optometry by the State Board of Optometry. The act prohibits engaging in the practice of optometry without an optometrist license from the board. The act requires, in order for an applicant to obtain a license to practice optometry in California, that the applicant have graduated from an accredited school of optometry, passed the required examinations for licensure, not have met any of certain grounds for denial, and not be currently required to register as a sex offender. Existing law specifies that a violation of the act is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment, as provided. The act also authorizes the board to take action against all persons guilty of violating the act or regulations of the board. The act requires the board to enforce and administer its enforcement provisions as to licenseholders, including those who hold a retired license, a license with a retired volunteer designation, or an inactive license."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 509"
citation: "California SB 509 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Optometry: COVID-19 pandemic: temporary licenses."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wilk"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 25
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-17"
last_action: "2021-09-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4199ce7d-43e4-4d26-97ed-74c49abdfac7"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509"
source_hash: "99c96209391713e2e4d65e81c42cb290e3c514d75a8fc7cdb205423a36408286"
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 SB 509 (20212022) — Optometry: COVID-19 pandemic: temporary licenses.

The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of optometry by the State Board of Optometry. The act prohibits engaging in the practice of optometry without an optometrist license from the board. The act requires, in order for an applicant to obtain a license to practice optometry in California, that the applicant have graduated from an accredited school of optometry, passed the required examinations for licensure, not have met any of certain grounds for denial, and not be currently required to register as a sex offender. Existing law specifies that a violation of the act is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment, as provided. The act also authorizes the board to take action against all persons guilty of violating the act or regulations of the board. The act requires the board to enforce and administer its enforcement provisions as to licenseholders, including those who hold a retired license, a license with a retired volunteer designation, or an inactive license.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/17/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509&version=20210SB50999INT)
2. **04/26/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509&version=20210SB50998AMD)
3. **06/21/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509&version=20210SB50997AMD)
4. **09/22/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509&version=20210SB50995CHP)
5. **SB509** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509)
6. **09/01/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB509&version=20210SB50996ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB509 Wilk et al. Urgency Clause Concurrence — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 509 Wilk Consent Calendar Second Day — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading SB509 Wilk et al. Urgency Clause — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Wilk — primary (person)
- Glazer — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-17** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-18** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 20.
- **2021-02-22** Art. IV. Sec. 8(a) of the Constitution dispensed with.
- **2021-02-22** (Ayes 32. Noes 4.)
- **2021-02-22** Joint Rule 55 suspended. (Ayes 32. Noes 4. Page 272.)
- **2021-02-25** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-24** Set for hearing April 19.
- **2021-04-22** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 840.) (April 19). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-26** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-30** Set for hearing May 10.
- **2021-05-10** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2021-05-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-13** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1086.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-05-13** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2021-05-20** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-21** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-06** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 19. Noes 0.) (July 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-08-19** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (August 19). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-08-23** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-26** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 2524.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-08-26** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2021-08-30** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2215.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-03** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2021-09-22** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-09-23** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 219, 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/4199ce7d-43e4-4d26-97ed-74c49abdfac7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).