A Systemic Solution to a Systemic Problem: Embed Equity into California Law with AB 1843
Today, state agencies can allocate resources, design programs, and implement policies without clear requirements to assess whether those decisions reduce disparities or reinforce them. The result is predictable: inequities persist, even when equity is named as a priority.
California has long claimed leadership on racial equity, but without clear requirements, accountability, and transparency, those commitments have not consistently shaped how billions of public dollars are spent, or how decisions are actually made. What’s missing is durable infrastructure — policies and processes codified in law that ensure equity is not optional. That is the role AB 1823, authored by Assemblymember Corey Jackson, is designed to fill.
The bill, sponsored by The Greenlining Institute and supported by the CA Racial Equity Coalition, would require state agencies to take concrete actions to advance racial equity, including embedding equity in strategic planning and conducting racial equity analyses before implementing budgets or regulations. At a moment when equity initiatives face growing political pressure, this bill creates the structure needed to move from intention to action.
AB 1823 builds on state equity work started by the Newsom Administration – including the Reparations Task Force, Executive Order N-16-22, and the creation of the state’s first Racial Equity Commission – by adding enforceable standards and accountable processes. It ensures equity is not siloed or symbolic, but embedded across how our state government operates.
This matters because inequity is not accidental — it is produced by systems. And without changing how decisions are made, those systems will continue to produce the same outcomes.
Take a common challenge in the climate crisis: heatwave preparedness. A standard approach might distribute cooling centers evenly across neighborhoods.
But neighborhoods are not equal. Low-income communities are often hotter, have fewer trees, and house more residents, while wealthier areas have more built-in protections. Equal distribution in this context leads to waste in some areas and dangerous gaps in others.
An equitable approach starts earlier. It uses standard practices, data, community input, and racial equity assessments to understand where need is greatest and why, accounting for historic disinvestment, housing conditions, and environmental burdens. That leads to smarter, more effective investments that serve everyone better. AB 1823 ensures this kind of analysis becomes standard practice, embedding equity into planning, budgeting, and decision-making from the start.
This Moment Matters
California is facing overlapping affordability and climate crises, and both are hitting the same communities hardest. Costs are rising across the board — housing, energy, transportation, and food — stretching families to the brink. At the same time, climate impacts are intensifying: extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and a destabilizing insurance market are making it harder for communities to stay housed, build wealth, or recover from disaster.
These pressures do not fall evenly. Communities of color already navigating the legacy of redlining and disinvestment are more likely to live in high-risk areas, face higher energy burdens, and have fewer resources to adapt or recover. Without intentional intervention, public investments risk reinforcing these disparities rather than alleviating them.
At the same time, federal attacks on racial equity are creating confusion and hesitation. For months, headlines have declared DEI dead. The Trump Administration’s anti-DEI campaign — through executive orders and political rhetoric — has aimed to dismantle equity efforts and reframe them as illegitimate.
Even where the legal landscape has not fundamentally changed, the chilling effect is real. Institutions are pulling back — not because they must, but because they fear becoming targets. This is how progress erodes: not through formal repeal, but through ambiguity, risk aversion, and inaction.
This moment reveals a deeper vulnerability. When equity exists only as a value or intention, it can be deprioritized or abandoned under pressure. Without clear requirements and accountability, progress is fragile.
That is what makes AB 1823 urgent. It shifts equity from aspiration to obligation, ensuring that even in moments of political volatility, the state continues to deliver for the communities it serves.
We Can Shift the Future of California Towards Equity
For Greenlining, advancing racial equity means changing the systems that made inequity possible in the first place and advancing practices that benefit everyone. When equity is embedded into policy design, decisions are more effective, more efficient, and more responsive to real community needs. Equity analyses help prevent harm before it happens, saving time, resources, and lives.
Persistent inequities in housing, health, and economic opportunity limit California’s overall potential. As federal leadership creates instability, the responsibility and opportunity shifts to the state. California can either allow inequities to deepen, or it can lead by building systems that deliver measurable, equitable outcomes.
AB 1823 establishes a baseline expectation: equity must be part of state decision-making. It strengthens California’s commitments by making them actionable, durable, and harder to sideline when political winds shift. This bill moves the state beyond intent and toward accountability.
The goal is not just to weather the current moment, but to use it as a turning point to build a Greenlined Economy where race, class, and background no longer determine opportunity or outcomes.
By passing AB 1823, California can ensure that equity is not revisited as a question with each change in leadership, but carried forward as a foundational element of governance. The question is no longer whether California values equity — it is whether the state is willing to build it into the systems that shape every decision.
