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Senate committee backs codifying 'Engage California' public deliberation program
Summary
AB 2103 would make the Engaged California deliberative‑democracy program permanent; the Office of Data and Innovation said the program is transparent and publishes anonymized data. The committee moved the bill to appropriations.
Assemblymember Erwin presented AB 2103 to codify the Engage California public deliberation program, which the Office of Data and Innovation runs to expand public participation beyond traditional hearings.
Jereck Kremery, the program director, described Engage California as a deliberative practice that publishes findings and anonymized raw data to enable independent analysis. He said prior engagements focused on issues such as fire recovery and government service improvements and that any funding would have to be appropriated by the Legislature.
Committee members asked about funding sources, topic selection, and safeguards against partisan topic selection. Sponsors said the program is designed to be nonpartisan and transparent, with outputs and raw data published online for third‑party review.
The committee voted to pass AB 2103 to Appropriations for further consideration.
