State agencies and departments: strategic plans: diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The document was reformatted from a formal enrolled bill layout to the California Legislature website's standard web page display, adding navigation elements, a bill history timeline, version list, and a digest key showing Vote: MAJORITY, Appropriation: NO, Fiscal Committee: YES, Local Program: NO.

Added 'applicable and if feasible' as a qualifier before the requirement to develop or update strategic plans to reflect data analysis and inclusive practices. This changes the obligation from mandatory to conditional, allowing agencies to determine whether compliance is feasible.

Reorganized the structure of Section 11818, moving the 'do both of the following' language into the introductory clause and renumbering subsections (a) and (b) for clarity. Also cleaned up redundant wording such as 'develop or update update, as applicable.'

Updated the amendment date from August 29 to September 5, 2025, with the prior date retained as a secondary line.

The bill now consistently applies to 'agency, department, office, or commission' throughout both Section 11816 and the new Section 11818. The prior version used 'agency or department' in some provisions, which could have been read as excluding offices and commissions from certain requirements.

The reporting deadline in Section 11816(a) is corrected from 'April 1, 1995, 2026' to simply 'April 1, 2026,' removing what appears to have been a drafting error.

Section 11816(a) no longer conditions the strategic planning requirement on Section 11815 having recommended strategic planning efforts for that entity. The obligation now applies directly to all agencies, departments, offices, or commissions subject to the Governor's authority.

Section 11818 adds 'as applicable' after 'develop or update' and inserts the phrase 'upon the development or update, as applicable, of its strategic plan' to clarify that an entity performs whichever action is relevant (developing a new plan or updating an existing one) rather than both.

Subsection (a) was restructured: items (1) and (2) now contain lettered subparts labeled (a) and (b) respectively, though the substantive language of each item remains unchanged.

The legislative counsel's digest was expanded to explicitly state that agencies must engage historically disadvantaged communities and make strategic plans publicly available - a requirement already present in the original bill text but previously omitted from the digest summary.

Covered entities expanded from 'agencies or departments' to 'each agency, department, office, or commission' subject to the Governor's authority, broadening which state bodies must comply.

New amendment to Government Code Section 11816 requires agencies to report to the Governor and Joint Legislative Budget Committee by April 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, on steps being taken to develop and adopt a strategic plan, including a timetable for completion and performance measures.

Section 11816 now requires agencies to consult with employee organizations, the Legislature, client groups served, suppliers, and contractors when developing strategic plans.

The Assembly version's requirement that every agency undertake a racial equity analysis prior to implementation of any budget or before any regulation takes effect has been entirely removed from the bill.

Detailed requirements specifying who must conduct the racial equity analysis (the appointed diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, or an individual with demonstrated expertise in specific areas) have been removed.

Section 11818 was restructured from a multi-part provision with sub-subdivisions into a simpler two-part requirement: (a) develop or update strategic plans to reflect data analysis and inclusive practices for racial equity, and (b) engage historically disadvantaged communities and make plans publicly available.