AB 2103 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Office of Data and Innovation: Engaged California Program.

Summary

Existing law establishes the Office of Data and Innovation within the Government Operations Agency with a mission to deliver better government services to the people of California through technology and service innovation, data, and design. Existing law establishes the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund consisting of certain sources of moneys including donations, endowments, or grants of funds from private or public sources that commit to the office's mission of ethical, efficient, effective, secure, and responsible use of data in a manner that respects privacy. Exiting law makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would establish the Engaged California Program within the office. The bill would require the office to, among other things, design, establish, and maintain a platform for ongoing dialogue between Californians and state government and to establish best practices for its use. Subject to certain conditions, including upon appropriation by the Legislature for the express purpose of running the Engaged California Program, the bill would require topics to be selected for deliberation in accordance with specified procedure and would require state agencies identified by the office to coordinate outreach, among other things. The bill would require the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund to consist of supplemental funding for the Engaged California Program from partner organizations. The bill would prohibit organizations that provide that funding from participating in the selection of a topic for deliberation and from participating in the deliberation. The bill would also make any unspent funds appropriated for the Engaged California Program during the 2026–27 fiscal year available for use by that program during the 2027–28 fiscal year.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 18, 2026 Last action Aug 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

04/27/26 - Amended Assembly → 08/18/26 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Aug 18, 2026

MODERATE

The Senate amendment to AB 2103 significantly restructures how the Engaged California Program gets funded and activated. The bill no longer makes an appropriation (changing its legislative classification), removes the continuous appropriation mechanism for program funds, and adds new conditions under which the office must operate the program - including a state of emergency trigger and the ability to partner with state entities that have discretionary funding. Topic selection criteria were also simplified by removing two subjective standards.

FISCAL

The bill changed from 'Appropriation: yes' to 'Appropriation: no,' meaning it no longer makes a direct appropriation of state funds and will not be treated as an appropriation bill in the legislative process.

Removed paragraph (9) which provided that moneys received for the Engaged California Program would be continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years. This eliminates the automatic funding mechanism for the program.

ELIGIBILITY

Added new conditions under which the office must operate the Engaged California Program: (1) appropriation by the Legislature for the express purpose of running the program, (2) partnering with a state entity that has discretionary funding to fund an engagement, or (3) during a state of emergency proclaimed under Section 8625 of the California Emergency Services Act.

REQUIREMENT

Topic selection criteria were simplified. Removed two criteria: that the topic 'presents an appropriate level of complexity that allows for informed discussion and collective learning' and that it 'involves differing perspectives that would benefit from structured public deliberation.' The remaining four criteria (relevance to Californians, actionability, potential impact, and appropriateness for public deliberation) were retained.

Removed the requirement that the office select topics 'in consultation with stakeholders, which may include, but are not limited to, the public, the Legislature, the Governor's Office, and state departments and agencies.'

SCOPE

Changed the language for agency outreach obligations from requiring 'communications and external affairs teams' of identified agencies to simply requiring 'any state agency identified' to coordinate outreach, broadening which personnel within an agency may be responsible.

02/18/26 - Introduced → 04/27/26 - Amended Assembly · 11 edits · Apr 27, 2026

MAJOR

The amended version of AB 2103 significantly restructures the Engaged California Program's funding, governance, and operational requirements. Key changes include giving the Speaker of the Assembly or President pro Tempore of the Senate direct authority to select deliberation topics, prohibiting external funders from participating in topic selection or deliberations, adding a one-year carryover for unspent program funds, and expanding data privacy protections for participants. The bill's fiscal classification also changed from an appropriation bill to a non-appropriation bill.

Scope change

The program's governance scope expanded to give specific legislative leaders (Speaker, President pro Tempore) and the Secretary of Government Operations direct topic-selection authority. The funding scope narrowed by prohibiting external funders from participating in deliberations, and broadened by adding a one-year unspent funds carryover. Data privacy protections were extended to cover personal information collected during the program.

SCOPE

Topic selection authority was expanded: the Speaker of the Assembly or President pro Tempore of the Senate may now directly select a topic for deliberation, and the Secretary of Government Operations may also select a topic. Previously topics were only selected 'in consultation with stakeholders.'

REQUIREMENT

New prohibition: organizations external to state government (philanthropic organizations, civil groups, similar entities) that provide supplemental funding for the Engaged California Program shall not participate in the selection of a deliberation topic and shall not participate in the deliberation itself.

New data privacy restriction: state agencies providing data or information for the program shall not include personal information, and any personal information collected by the agency or office shall not be used without consent from the individual identified.

Topic selection criteria were expanded with two new requirements: the topic must have the potential to meaningfully impact Californians or improve government services and outcomes, and the topic must be appropriate for public deliberation and benefit from input beyond traditional stakeholder civic engagement.

New platform maintenance requirement: the office must ensure the platform remains up to date for future deployment.

FISCAL

New carryover provision: any unspent funds appropriated for the Engaged California Program during the 2026-27 fiscal year shall remain available for use by that program during the 2027-28 fiscal year.

The Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund is now required to consist of supplemental funding for the Engaged California Program from partner organizations (changed from permissive 'may accept' language in the original).

The bill's fiscal classification changed from 'Appropriation: yes' to 'Appropriation: no,' indicating the amended version no longer constitutes a direct appropriation measure.

ELIGIBILITY

Participant diversity requirements were expanded to specifically include all economic segments of the community, members of protected classes under Section 12955, and the geographic population specific to a selected topic.

DEFINITION

New formal definitions added for 'Deliberation' (structured dialogue producing actionable recommendations), 'Personal information' (same meaning as Civil Code Section 1798.3), and 'Platform' (technology, data infrastructure, and tools to facilitate a deliberation).

ENFORCEMENT

Annual report requirements were substantially expanded to include detailed sub-items covering the topic selected and requesting body, the specific problem addressed, the platform used and why, data sources, impacted agencies, participant criteria compliance and demographics, deliberation outcomes and recommendations, and follow-up on whether prior-year recommendations were implemented.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 30, 2026 · Assembly May 21, 2026

How they voted

38–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 40

Aug 30, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

8 Yea 2

80% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 30, 2026

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Aug 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0.).

upper

Aug 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 13).

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.

upper

May 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 5220.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 14).

lower

May 13, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 21).

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors