Files
republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/ab-55.md
T
2026-07-06 17:28:36 -04:00

98 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alternative birth centers: licensing and Medi-Cal reimbursement."
description: "Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various types of clinics, including alternative birth centers, by the State Department of Public Health, and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law defines an alternative birth center as a clinic that is not part of a hospital and that provides comprehensive perinatal services and delivery care to pregnant women who remain less than 24 hours at the facility. Existing law requires a licensed alternative birth center specialty clinic, and a licensed primary care clinic that provides services as an alternative birth center, to meet certain criteria, including, among others, being located in proximity to a facility with the capacity for management of obstetrical and neonatal emergencies, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "AB 55"
citation: "California AB 55 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alternativebirthcenters", "licensingandMedi-Calreimbursement"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonta"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 26
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2024-12-02"
last_action: "2025-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1a60c1cb-8784-4188-bb25-86e9b6b8d25b"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55"
source_hash: "9311b7ed8be3e1a52424392cabcfb4a0464ddb9ec3a7c0c15044db593f5580b9"
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 55 (20252026) — Alternative birth centers: licensing and Medi-Cal reimbursement.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various types of clinics, including alternative birth centers, by the State Department of Public Health, and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law defines an alternative birth center as a clinic that is not part of a hospital and that provides comprehensive perinatal services and delivery care to pregnant women who remain less than 24 hours at the facility. Existing law requires a licensed alternative birth center specialty clinic, and a licensed primary care clinic that provides services as an alternative birth center, to meet certain criteria, including, among others, being located in proximity to a facility with the capacity for management of obstetrical and neonatal emergencies, as specified.
## Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
1. **12/02/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5599INT)
2. **02/25/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5598AMD)
3. **04/10/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5597AMD)
4. **05/29/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5596AMD)
5. **09/02/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5595AMD)
6. **10/11/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5593CHP)
7. **AB55** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55)
8. **09/11/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB55&version=20250AB5594ENR)
## Votes
- Do pass. — **150** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **70** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB55 Bonta et al. By Caballero — **390** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **150** (pass) · lower
- AB 55 Bonta Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **800** (pass) · lower
- AB 55 Bonta Assembly Third Reading — **750** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **60** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **90** (pass) · upper
## Sponsors
- Bonta — primary (person)
- McGuire — coauthor (person)
## Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
- **2024-12-02** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2024-12-03** From printer. May be heard in committee January 2.
- **2025-02-03** Referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-25** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-02-26** Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-09** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 8). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2025-04-10** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-04-21** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-23** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 23). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-04-28** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 1317.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-04-29** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2025-05-07** Referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2025-05-29** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-06-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2025-06-30** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2025-08-29** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 29). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-08-29** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-02** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-03** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-08** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2602.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-08** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2025-09-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3099.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-16** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2025-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 595, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`
## Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1a60c1cb-8784-4188-bb25-86e9b6b8d25b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).