SB 17: Racial Equity Commission.

Existing law establishes an Office of Health Equity in the State Department of Public Health for purposes of aligning state resources, decisionmaking, and programs to accomplish certain goals related to health equity and protecting vulnerable communities. Existing law requires the office to develop department-wide plans to close the gaps in health status and access to care among the states diverse racial and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning communities, as specified. Existing law requires the office to work with the Health in All Policies Task Force to assist state agencies and departments in developing policies, systems, programs, and environmental change strategies that have population health impacts by, among other things, prioritizing building cross-sectoral partnerships within and across departments and agencies to change policies and practices to advance health equity.

Existing law establishes the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States to, among other things, identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies. Existing law requires the task force to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature.

This bill, until January 1, 2030, would establish in state government a Racial Equity Advisory and Accountability Commission. The bill would authorize the commission, among other things, to hire administrative, technical, and other personnel as may be necessary for the performance of its duties, including an executive director to organize, administer, and manage the operations of the commission. require the commission to be staffed by the Office of Planning and Research. The bill would task the commission with coordinating, analyzing, developing, evaluating, and recommending strategies for advancing racial equity across state agencies, departments, and the office of the Governor. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with state agencies, departments, and public stakeholders, as appropriate, to develop require the commission to develop resources, best practices, and tools for advancing racial equity by, among other things, developing a statewide Racial Equity Framework that includes a strategic plan with policy and inclusive practice recommendations, guidelines, theory of change, goals, and benchmarks to reduce racial inequities, promote racial equity, and address individual, institutional, and structural racism. The bill would also require the commission, in consultation with state agencies and departments, to establish methodologies, a system of measurement, and data needs for assessing how state statutes, regulations, and practices contribute to, uphold, or exacerbate racial disparities and to prepare an annual report that evaluates and reports on progress in, and any obstacles to, meeting statewide goals and policies established under the Racial Equity Framework. methodologies and tools that can be employed to advance racial equity and address structural racism in California. The bill would require the commission to prepare an annual report that summarizes feedback from public engagement with communities of color, provides data on racial inequities and disparities in the state, and recommends best practices on tools, methodologies, and opportunities to advance racial equity and to submit that report, on or after December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, to the Governor and the Legislature, as specified.