Bill Commons

CA SB 553

enacted

Prisons: clearances.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did CA SB 553 pass?

Yes. CA SB 553 has been enacted into law as of 2025-10-01. Latest recorded action (2025-10-01): Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025.

What is CA SB 553 about?

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct rehabilitative programming in a manner that meets specified requirements, including minimizing program wait times and offering a variety of program opportunities to inmates regardless of security level or sentence length. Existing law establishes various clearance levels for program providers in state prisons, including short-term clearance, annual program provider clearance, and statewide program provider clearance, as defined. Existing law establishes a procedure for a program provider to receive one of these clearances and an identification card to gain entry into the state prison and requires the department to provide state prisons with forms for program providers to obtain the clearances. This bill would expand these provisions to allow legal professionals and attorney support personnel, as defined, to apply for these clearances. The bill would revise the names of these clearances to annual gate clearances and short-term gate clearances. The bill would also require the department to, upon request, give a short-term gate clearance for any institution without the requirement to apply for a long-term gate clearance to specified individuals, including, among others, the Governor and all cabinet members, members of the Legislature and their staff, and current judges of the state.

Who sponsors CA SB 553?

Cortese is the primary sponsor of CA SB 553.

Description

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct rehabilitative programming in a manner that meets specified requirements, including minimizing program wait times and offering a variety of program opportunities to inmates regardless of security level or sentence length. Existing law establishes various clearance levels for program providers in state prisons, including short-term clearance, annual program provider clearance, and statewide program provider clearance, as defined. Existing law establishes a procedure for a program provider to receive one of these clearances and an identification card to gain entry into the state prison and requires the department to provide state prisons with forms for program providers to obtain the clearances. This bill would expand these provisions to allow legal professionals and attorney support personnel, as defined, to apply for these clearances. The bill would revise the names of these clearances to annual gate clearances and short-term gate clearances. The bill would also require the department to, upon request, give a short-term gate clearance for any institution without the requirement to apply for a long-term gate clearance to specified individuals, including, among others, the Governor and all cabinet members, members of the Legislature and their staff, and current judges of the state.

Introduced
2025-02-20
Latest action
2025-10-01 — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Corteseauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2025-02-20

    Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

    introduction,reading-1,referral-committee

  2. 2025-02-21

    From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.

  3. 2025-03-05

    Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

    referral-committee

  4. 2025-03-18

    Set for hearing April 1.

  5. 2025-04-01

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 612.) (April 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  6. 2025-04-04

    Set for hearing April 21.

  7. 2025-04-21

    April 21 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  8. 2025-05-16

    Set for hearing May 23.

  9. 2025-05-23

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 1204.) (May 23).

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  10. 2025-05-23

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  11. 2025-05-27

    Ordered to special consent calendar.

  12. 2025-05-29

    Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1327.) Ordered to the Assembly.

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  13. 2025-05-29

    In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

    reading-1

  14. 2025-06-05

    Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

    referral-committee

  15. 2025-06-17

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 17). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  16. 2025-07-09

    July 9 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  17. 2025-08-29

    From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 29).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  18. 2025-09-02

    Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  19. 2025-09-03

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  20. 2025-09-12

    Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3393.) Ordered to the Senate.

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  21. 2025-09-12

    In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  22. 2025-09-13

    Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 3024.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  23. 2025-09-23

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  24. 2025-10-01

    Approved by the Governor.

    executive-signature

  25. 2025-10-01

    Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025.

    became-law

Versions

  • 02/20/25 - Introduced — 2025-02-20Compare
  • 09/02/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-09-02Compare
  • 09/18/25 - Enrolled — 2025-09-18Compare
  • 10/01/25 - Chaptered — 2025-10-01Compare
  • SB553Compare
  • (document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar

    2025-04-01 · pass · 6-0

    Member-level votes (6)
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Gonzalez: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Pérez: yes
    • Arreguín: yes

  • Placed on suspense file

    2025-04-21 · pass · 6-0

    Member-level votes (7)
    • Grayson: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Richardson: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Dahle: other

  • Do pass

    2025-05-23 · pass · 6-0

    Member-level votes (7)
    • Caballero: yes
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Richardson: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Dahle: other

  • Special Consent

    2025-05-29 · pass · 38-0

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Grove: yes
    • Dahle: yes
    • Rubio: yes
    • Jones: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Stern: yes
    • Padilla: yes
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Pérez: yes
    • McNerney: yes
    • Gonzalez: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Cortese: yes
    • Archuleta: yes
    • Blakespear: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Strickland: yes
    • Choi: yes
    • Valladares: yes
    • McGuire: yes
    • Niello: yes
    • Allen: yes
    • Richardson: yes
    • Hurtado: yes
    • Cervantes: yes
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Menjivar: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Becker: yes
    • Alvarado-Gil: yes
    • Ochoa Bogh: yes
    • Ashby: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Limón: other
    • Reyes: other

  • Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

    2025-06-17 · pass · 9-0

    Member-level votes (9)
    • Alanis: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Lackey: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes

  • Do pass as amended.

    2025-08-29 · pass · 11-0

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Sanchez: other
    • Ta: other
    • Tangipa: other
    • Dixon: other

  • SB 553 Cortese Senate Third Reading By Sharp-Collins

    2025-09-12 · pass · 80-0

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Addis: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • DeMaio: yes
    • Hadwick: yes
    • Irwin: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Johnson: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Soria: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Celeste Rodriguez: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Jeff Gonzalez: yes
    • Alanis: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Castillo: yes
    • Wallis: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Gallagher: yes
    • Ellis: yes
    • Macedo: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Dixon: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Lackey: yes
    • Flora: yes
    • Garcia: yes

  • Unfinished Business SB553 Cortese Concurrence

    2025-09-13 · pass · 37-0

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Jones: yes
    • Richardson: yes
    • Menjivar: yes
    • Pérez: yes
    • Stern: yes
    • Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Limón: yes
    • Padilla: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Cortese: yes
    • Reyes: yes
    • Ochoa Bogh: yes
    • Grove: yes
    • Hurtado: yes
    • Strickland: yes
    • Becker: yes
    • Ashby: yes
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Allen: yes
    • Dahle: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • McGuire: yes
    • Alvarado-Gil: yes
    • Archuleta: yes
    • McNerney: yes
    • Blakespear: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Niello: yes
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Cervantes: yes
    • Rubio: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Gonzalez: other
    • Valladares: other
    • Choi: other

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB553

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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