republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/sb-544.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act: teleconferencing."
description: "Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body. The act authorizes meetings through teleconference subject to specified requirements, including, among others, that the state body post agendas at all teleconference locations, that each teleconference location be identified in the notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, that each teleconference location be accessible to the public, that the agenda provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the state body directly at each teleconference location, and that at least one member of the state body be physically present at the location specified in the notice of the meeting."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 544"
citation: "California SB 544 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act", "teleconferencing"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Laird"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 29
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-02-15"
last_action: "2023-09-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fddf09c7-f032-49af-8174-b94ce2b70abf"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544"
source_hash: "107e6b6369e6bd2ba024cbc2ce04ad4465e6fc99389208ad5c363e36ef495737"
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 544 (20232024) — Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act: teleconferencing.

Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body. The act authorizes meetings through teleconference subject to specified requirements, including, among others, that the state body post agendas at all teleconference locations, that each teleconference location be identified in the notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, that each teleconference location be accessible to the public, that the agenda provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the state body directly at each teleconference location, and that at least one member of the state body be physically present at the location specified in the notice of the meeting.

## 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=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54499INT)
2. **03/20/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54498AMD)
3. **04/27/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54497AMD)
4. **08/14/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54496AMD)
5. **09/08/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54495AMD)
6. **09/22/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54493CHP)
7. **SB544** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544)
8. **09/18/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB544&version=20230SB54494ENR)

## Votes

- Unfinished Business SB544 Laird Concurrence — **30–5** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **26–3** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **11–3** (pass) · lower
- SB 544 Laird Senate Third Reading By Berman — **50–15** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **12–2** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **13–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Laird — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-15** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-16** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 18.
- **2023-02-22** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-20** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-29** Re-referred to Coms. on G.O. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-06** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2023-04-11** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 13. Noes 1. Page 656.) (April 11). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-13** Set for hearing April 25.
- **2023-04-26** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 894.) (April 25). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-27** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-02** Set for hearing May 8.
- **2023-05-08** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2023-05-09** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-15** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 26. Noes 3. Page 1079.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-15** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2023-05-26** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2023-07-18** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 2.) (July 12). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-08-14** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-23** August 23 hearing postponed by committee.
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (September 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-08** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-08** Ordered to third reading.
- **2023-09-13** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 50. Noes 15. Page 3354.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-13** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2023-09-14** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 5. Page 2793.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2023-09-22** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-09-22** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 216, 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/fddf09c7-f032-49af-8174-b94ce2b70abf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).