Council updates rulemaking timeline for contractor nondiscrimination regulations; members and public press for outreach and digital-literacy improvements

The Civil Rights Council provided an update that proposed modifications to contractor nondiscrimination and compliance regulations will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law and that a 45-day public-comment period will begin soon. The council noted it previously approved entering formal rulemaking and therefore no further council action was required at this meeting.

Council members Hong and Chan said they are coordinating with the department's public-outreach team and plan to present a fuller outreach proposal at the next meeting because of staff scheduling constraints. The subcommittee emphasized planning outreach holistically given limited staff resources.

Public commenters urged stronger outreach and technical training. Professor Elle Rose repeated earlier concerns about investigator digital literacy and said investigators have missed digital evidence in cases; she urged ongoing training rather than occasional workshops. Ricardo Morales Jr., a Zoom participant, asked whether investigators are required to interview claimants before reaching a decision and said he had struggled to reach the department by phone or email.

A staff representative responded that "the council is a regulatory body. It does not have any involvement with our enforcement division or know their processes," clarifying that enforcement procedures and investigator practices fall outside the council's remit and would need to be addressed through the enforcement division or other department contacts.

The council said it will bring outreach planning to a future meeting and that the contractor-nondiscrimination package will proceed into the 45-day comment period in the administrative rulemaking process. No additional votes were taken on the item at this meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 11:23 AM.