Council hears progress on long‑overdue 11135 rewrite and forms strategic‑planning subcommittee

Council members heard an update that a comprehensive rewrite of regulations implementing Government Code section 11135 — rules that govern nondiscrimination by state‑funded entities — has moved into formal notice and is open for public comment.

Council Member Dara Schur, co‑chair of the 11135 subcommittee, said the rewrite is a long‑awaited modernization of regulations that had not been revised in decades. "This is a long‑awaited set of updates to a set of regulations that had not been modified in, I don't know, close to 30 years," Schur said, and noted the public‑comment period runs through April 3 with a public hearing scheduled at the next council meeting. Director Kevin Kish emphasized that the regulatory package is intended to clarify evolving access standards and to increase public understanding of covered obligations.

Members also reviewed a series of subcommittee reports on reasonable accommodations, housing regulations in public comment, and religious‑creed regulations moving toward formal notice. A recurring theme in those updates was balancing staff capacity while advancing multiple large regulatory packages.

In response, the council agreed to form a small strategic‑planning subcommittee to help set priorities across regulatory and public‑engagement workstreams. Director Kish and several council members endorsed the idea; the council voted to establish the subcommittee by roll call. Several members volunteered to serve and Chair Sandoval indicated the subcommittee would work with staff to develop recommendations for the full council.

What happens next: The 11135 materials and initial statement of reasons are available on the department website; the council encouraged robust public comment. The strategic‑planning subcommittee will convene to develop a proposed prioritization process and present recommendations back to the full council.