Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 41, Sec. 30. (SB 164) Effective June 29, 2024.
(a)It is the intent of the Legislature that through the creation of a single state entity to coordinate California’s most important statewide public awareness and community outreach campaigns, the state can realize more inclusive and effective outcomes while preventing equity gaps in statewide outreach. The office will use data-driven decisions to help the state make more informed resource allocations, targeted strategies, and rapid response efforts to better serve Californians, as well as help remove or reduce barriers that many small, community-based organizations face when attempting to partner with the state.
(b)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)California is a uniquely diverse state that is home to a multitude of different communities with various needs and perspectives. The state’s diversity and size likewise present unique challenges in the statewide communication of critical information and resources in a timely and equitable manner.
(2)In light of the unprecedented scale of the challenges that California has faced in recent years and continues to face today, the state must be able to coordinate and communicate effectively with the full range of communities that it serves, particularly with those who are experiencing the greatest health and social inequities.
(3)The state must incorporate the lessons learned from recent statewide public education campaigns into future efforts if the state intends to effectively reach and engage Californians, including those experiencing the greatest health and
social inequities.
(4)The creation of a single entity to coordinate the highest priority statewide public information and outreach campaigns can ensure that the state is more inclusive, equitable, coordinated, and effective in its most important communication efforts. Likewise, such an entity can serve to help reduce or remove barriers to entry that many small, community-based organizations face when attempting to partner with the state in these efforts. Similarly, such an entity can help inform and implement best practices for engaging media specializing in non-English language and culturally resonant content.
(5)It is the intent of the Legislature that the creation of the office within the Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement will serve not only to streamline partnership efforts with community-based organizations and media throughout the state, but also to use
data-informed decisions to help prevent and address equity gaps in statewide outreach, resource allocations, targeted strategies, and rapid response efforts.
(6)Work at the state level to coordinate high-priority public information and outreach campaigns is not intended to be a substitute for, and should be done in coordination with, similar efforts by cities, counties, cities and counties, and other governments.