AB 766 amends the State Government Strategic Planning and Performance and Review Act to require every agency, department, office, or commission subject to the Governor’s authority to develop a strategic plan and to report annually on steps taken to create and adopt that plan. The reporting requirement specifies the elements to include, the timetable, and, importantly, the steps the agency is taking to develop performance measures that could feed a performance budgeting or review system.
The bill also adds a new requirement that agencies, where applicable and “if feasible,” revise or draft strategic plans to incorporate data analysis and inclusive practices to advance racial equity. Agencies must consider changes to mission, goals, policies, programs, operations, data tools, community engagement, and tribal consultation to respond to identified disparities.
The change formalizes equity-focused planning across state government but leaves key implementation choices, resources, and enforcement measures to agencies and the executive branch.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill requires agencies under the Governor’s authority to produce strategic plans and to submit an annual report describing plan elements, development process, timetable, and steps to design performance measures. It also directs agencies, when applicable and feasible, to update plans to use data analysis and inclusive practices specifically aimed at advancing racial equity and addressing identified disparities.
Who It Affects
All California state agencies and departments subject to the Governor’s authority, plus internal units responsible for planning, analytics, HR, and community engagement. It also implicates tribal governments, client groups, employee organizations, suppliers, contractors, and outside vendors who assist with data or consulting work.
Why It Matters
AB 766 elevates racial-equity analysis into standard strategic planning and links planning to potential performance-budgeting metrics. That creates new expectations for data collection, analysis, consultation, and program redesign—shifting how agencies set priorities and measure results even though the bill does not appropriate new funding or create new enforcement penalties.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
AB 766 expands the state’s existing strategic-planning law so that every executive-branch agency that answers to the Governor must prepare a strategic plan and report annually on progress. The report must describe what will be in the plan, how the plan is being developed and adopted, a timetable for completion, and the steps the agency is taking to create performance measures that could feed a performance budgeting or performance review process.
The change institutionalizes strategic planning as a recurring, reportable responsibility across affected agencies.
The bill tightens who must be consulted during plan development. At minimum, agencies must consult employee organizations, the Legislature, client groups the agency serves, and the agency’s suppliers and contractors.
That list goes beyond the more traditional consultation with internal stakeholders and creates an expectation that external partners and affected communities will be looped into planning conversations.The bill’s new Section 11818 requires agencies, for any strategic plans that apply and where feasible, to develop or update plans so they explicitly use data analysis and inclusive practices to advance racial equity. The statute lists concrete areas that may need revision—mission and vision statements, goals, data tools, policies, programs, operations, community engagement strategies, and tribal-consultation policies.
In practice, agencies will need to inventory disparities, build or refine metrics, and consider program or policy changes aimed at closing gaps identified by data.Practical implementation will fall on departments’ planning and analytics teams. Agencies will have to decide what analyses are feasible, how to integrate findings into budgets and operations, and how to document changes in the required annual report.
The bill contains no dedicated funding or enforcement mechanism; agencies will rely on existing budgets and the Governor’s direction to carry out the work. That combination—specific expectations but limited central funding or penalty—means execution is likely to vary substantially across departments.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill requires each agency, department, office, or commission subject to the Governor’s authority to submit an annual report (first due April 1, 2026 in the text) describing steps to develop and adopt a strategic plan.
The annual report must identify the plan elements, the plan-development process, a timetable for completion, and the steps being taken to develop performance measures potentially usable for performance budgeting or review.
Section 11816(c) obligates agencies to consult, at minimum, employee organizations, the Legislature, client groups served, suppliers, and contractors while developing strategic plans.
New Section 11818 requires agencies, where applicable and “if feasible,” to update strategic plans to use data analysis and inclusive practices to advance racial equity and to respond to identified disparities with changes to mission, goals, data tools, policies, programs, operations, community engagement, and tribal consultation.
The bill establishes planning and reporting duties but contains no dedicated appropriation; agencies must absorb implementation and analytics costs within existing budgets unless the executive or Legislature provides funding.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Scope and annual reporting requirement
This subsection expands the universe of covered entities to every agency, department, office, or commission subject to the Governor’s authority and sets an annual reporting cadence. Practically, that means executive-branch entities that might previously have been exempt or treated as optional are now explicitly pulled into the strategic-planning framework. Agencies must document progress publicly and on a predictable schedule, which creates a continuing oversight tool for the Governor and the Legislature.
Report content and performance-measure development
Subdivision (b) prescribes what the annual report must contain: the strategic-plan elements, the process for development and adoption, a timetable, and an identification of steps to develop performance measures that could support performance budgeting or reviews. This text is notable because it ties strategic planning to the machinery of performance budgeting—agencies must begin translating strategic goals into measurable indicators that could influence resource allocation or oversight.
Minimum consultation requirements
Subdivision (c) imposes a floor for stakeholder consultation during plan development: employee organizations, the Legislature, client groups, suppliers, and contractors. That list goes beyond internal consultations and signals an expectation of external stakeholder engagement. For agencies, this will require establishing outreach processes, documenting engagement, and reconciling potentially competing input from labor, external partners, and client communities.
Mandate to use data and inclusive practices to advance racial equity
Section 11818 is the bill’s equity engine. It requires agencies, for any applicable strategic plans and where feasible, to develop or update plans so they incorporate data analysis and inclusive practices specifically aimed at advancing racial equity. The statute enumerates areas for change—mission, vision, goals, data tools, policies, programs, operations, community engagement, and tribal consultation policies—effectively asking agencies to reexamine foundational documents and operational systems in light of disparities. The provision’s phrasing (‘if feasible’ and ‘as necessary’) leaves significant discretion to agencies about scope and timing, while mandating that equity considerations be a documented part of strategic planning.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Government across all five countries.
Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Communities experiencing racial and other disparities — the law puts data-driven equity analysis into agency planning, increasing the chance that service design and resource allocation will identify and target gaps affecting these populations.
- Legislators and budget analysts — the requirement to develop performance measures and annual reporting creates better-structured information for oversight, appropriations, and policy review.
- Tribal governments and community-based organizations — the statute explicitly calls for revised tribal consultation policies and expanded community engagement, elevating the role of these stakeholders in state planning.
- Civil-rights and advocacy groups — formalized equity planning and reporting provide documentation and levers for advocacy around program redesign and accountability.
- Consultants and data vendors — agencies that lack in-house capacity will likely contract out analytics, equity assessments, and stakeholder-engagement facilitation, creating market demand.
Who Bears the Cost
- State agencies and departments — they must staff, design, and execute data analyses, stakeholder outreach, and plan revisions, absorbing costs unless the Legislature provides appropriations.
- Small departments and boards with limited analytics capacity — these entities may need to divert staff time or hire external vendors to meet the statutory expectations, creating capacity and budget pressures.
- IT and data-operations units — building or improving data tools, tracking metrics, and ensuring data quality and privacy protections will require technical work and resources.
- Agency leadership and program managers — implementing equity-driven changes could require program redesigns, reallocation of resources, and changes to procurement and contracting practices.
- Suppliers and contractors — the consultation requirement and potential program changes may alter contracting terms or expectations, and vendors may face new reporting or engagement obligations.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill forces a trade-off between setting firm expectations that agencies use data and inclusive practices to advance racial equity and preserving agency discretion and fiscal reality: ambitious equity-driven redesigns require data systems, staff time, and sometimes reallocated funds, but the law provides no new funding or enforcement mechanism—leaving agencies to balance ambition against feasibility, and creating uneven implementation risk across departments.
The statute couples concrete expectations—annual reports, stakeholder consultation, and a detailed list of plan elements—with broad language that delegates implementation choices back to agencies. The phrase “for any strategic plans applicable and if feasible” creates a large discretionary zone: agencies must consider equity and data, but they can decline or delay significant actions on feasibility grounds.
That raises questions about what evidence will satisfy feasibility, who will adjudicate disputes, and how to compare implementation across departments.
Another unresolved implementation issue is funding and capacity. The bill establishes duties but includes no dedicated appropriation; agencies with small analytic teams or outdated data systems will struggle to comply meaningfully.
Data quality, privacy, and interoperability constraints may limit the kind of disaggregated analyses the statute contemplates. Finally, the tribal consultation and community-engagement directives require meaningful processes that align with government-to-government obligations; without clearer standards or resources, consultation risks becoming perfunctory, and metrics-based performance pressures could incentivize easier-to-measure changes over deeper structural reforms.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.