UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation

Catalyzed by how the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the structural inequalities at the root of stark racial and other social disparities in health outcomes, California H.R. 39 (2021) sought to “reduc[e] the unintended negative consequences of bills and [prevent] health and economic disparities” in policymaking by exploring methods to integrate equity considerations more formally into the state legislature’s daily activities. More specifically, H.R. 39 aims “to continue the Assembly’s commitment to investing in equity solutions and maximizing benefits for underserved and marginalized communities” by authorizing the exploration of adopting equity impact analysis into the existing committee hearing and floor action process – the public-facing portion of the legislative process during which legislators seriously consider proposed legislation. Through a review of literature about equity in policymaking and existing legislative equity analysis models and interviews with 10 local and state government staff implementing and/or supporting legislative equity impact assessments, this paper aims to provide information that will help evaluate the potential of, and potentially guide, the development of an equity analysis framework for state legislatures. In total, 14 state, county, and local governments have developed and implemented legislative equity analysis models that are included for analysis in this paper.