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Committee approves DEIA equity‑analysis bill for state departments
Summary
AB 766, a bill requiring state departments to complete equity analyses led by departmental DEIA officers before implementing regulations, passed out of committee; author and witnesses said the measure would institutionalize equity reviews and help protect underserved groups.
Assemblymember Sharp Collins, the bill’s author, said AB 766 would require that state agencies and departments undertake an equity analysis led by a department DEIA coordinator (or an equivalently qualified person) before implementing regulations or budget requests.
“This bill requires that Allstate agencies and departments to undertake an equity analysis prior to the implementation of and also budget or before any rec any other the regulations actually take take full effect,” Assemblymember Sharp Collins said in opening remarks, framing the measure as building on a 2022 gubernatorial executive order.
Witnesses spoke in support. Ryan Kroll, an attorney representing the San Pasqual Band (in testimony for AB 971 earlier in the hearing), and education and nursing professionals testified during AB 766’s hearing about the operational effects of equity work. Darice Lushin, a registered nurse and nursing instructor at Sacramento City College, described classroom‑level examples she said demonstrate the need for institutionalized equity work in state policy and programs. “When we have diverse nursing faculty, we inspire to diverse nursing students,” Lushin said.
Committee members asked no substantive questions recorded in the excerpt. A motion by Assemblymember Wynne, seconded by Assemblymember Rodriguez, carried; the clerk recorded the committee as having passed AB 766 to the Appropriations Committee. The transcript records that the measure "passes with 13 votes." The committee left the roll open for absent members after the vote.
The author and witnesses framed the bill as both a civil‑rights safeguard and a practical tool to reduce liability and improve access across language, disability, veteran status, rural communities and other characteristics they said are encompassed by DEIA work. The transcript records references to a 2022 executive order as background for the bill; the committee record in the excerpt does not cite a statutory code section.
