BILL ANALYSIS
Bill No: AB
2420
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Dean Florez, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 2420 Author: Lieu
As Amended: May 26, 2006
Hearing Date: June 27, 2006
Consultant: Steve Hardy
SUBJECT
Collection of State Demographic Data
DESCRIPTION
1) Contains various findings and declarations related to
Asians and Pacific Islanders.
2) Requires any state agency, board, commission, community
college, or California State University that collects
demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of
Californians to use separate collection categories and
tabulations for Bangladeshi, Fijian, Hmong, Chamorro,
Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese,
Thai, Tongan, other Asian, and other Pacific Islander.
3) Requires any state agency, board, commission, community
college, or California State University (CSU) to update
and revise forms, information systems, or data collection
procedures as early as possible, but no later than July
1, 2008.
4) Requires any state agency, board, commission, community
college, or CSU that collects data pursuant to this bill
to update forms, information systems, or data collection
procedures 18 months after the United States (U.S.)
Census is released to the public, to reflect the
additional Asian and Pacific Islander groups as they are
reported by the U.S. Census.
AB 2420 (Lieu) continued
Page 2
5) Requires all data collected by any state agency, board,
commission, community college, or CSU pursuant to this
bill to be reported according to each Asian and Pacific
Islander group, as described, and made available to the
public.
6) Encourages the University of California to implement
the policy required of state agencies, boards,
commissions, community colleges, and CSU pursuant to the
provisions of this bill.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 301 (Alarcon) 2003-04 Legislative Session. Would have
created the Commission on Latina Affairs as specified.
(Vetoed by the Governor)
AB 116 (Nakano) Chapter 716, Statutes of 2002. Created the
Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs
as specified.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law requires any state agency, board, or
commission that collects demographic data as to the
ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate
collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian
and Pacific Islander group, including, but not limited to,
Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian
Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Laotian, and
Cambodian.
BACKGROUND
According to the author's office, current state law
requires collection of disaggregated data for a number of
Asian Pacific Islander (API) ethnic groups but does not
include many API groups. The United States Census provides
for a more comprehensive list of API ethnic groups, and
this bill will simply align state data so that it is broken
out into the API ethnic groups that have data reported in
the United States Census.
AB 2420 (Lieu) continued
Page 3
According to the sponsor, the Center for Asian American
Advocacy (CAA), "Accurate demographic data is critical in
developing effective policies that respond to the needs of
California's residents." The author and sponsor also
believe that given the incredible diversity of Asian
Pacific Islanders with different cultures, languages, and
histories, data that is broken out by specific ethnic
groups is critical to having an accurate understanding of
how each community is fairing.
SUPPORT: Applied Research Center
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
(AACRE) - sponsor
American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Community Mental Health services
Asian Law Caucus
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Asian Pacific Psychological Services
Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Center for Asian American Advocacy
Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
Formosan Association for Public Affairs Sacramento
Chapter
Lambda Letters Project
National Asian Pacific American Families Against
Substance Abuse
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Nihonmachi Little Friends Japanese Bilingual &
Multicultural Childcare
North American Taiwanese Medical Association
North American Taiwanese Professors' Association
North American Taiwanese Women's Association
Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc. - Greater
Los Angeles
Pacific Islander Health Partnership
Pacific Islander Kie Association
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
Taiwanese United Fund of Southern California
University of California, Los Angeles Asian
American & Pacific Islander
Policy Initiative
AB 2420 (Lieu) continued
Page 4
OPPOSE: None registered as of 6/23/06
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations
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