AB 532, as introduced, McCarty. State agencies: collection of data: ancestry or ethnic origin.
Existing law requires state agencies, boards, or commissions that directly or by contract collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, and state agencies conducting surveys as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of state civil service employees, to use separate collection categories for each major Asian and Pacific Islander group.
This bill would enact the Ethnic Heritage Respect and Recognition Act to require any state agency, board, or commission that directly or by contract collects demographic data, as soon as reasonably feasible and in no event later than January 1, ____, to provide forms that offer respondents the option of selecting one more ethnic or racial designation according to specified federal standards.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 8310.6 is added to the Government Code,
2to read:
(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as
2the Ethnic Heritage Respect and Recognition Act.
3(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
4following:
5(1) The State of California currently has the largest population
6of people in the United States who identify with more than one
7ancestry, ethnicity, or race. This population of Californians who
8identify as multiracial is rapidly growing.
9(2) Many state forms that currently require respondents to
10choose only a single ancestry, ethnicity, or race force multiracial
11
Californians to deny a significant part of their heritage. Information
12collected in this manner often deprives the state of accurate data
13with which to meet the needs of its diverse communities.
14(3) It is in the best interest of the State of California to respect,
15embrace, and understand the full diversity of its citizens.
16(4) Respect for individual dignity should guide the processes
17and methods for collecting and encoding data on ancestry,
18ethnicity, and race.
19(5) Since 1997, the federal Office of Management and Budget’s
20“Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal
21Data on Race and Ethnicity” have required federal agencies to
22ensure that individuals have the option of selecting one or more
23ethnic or racial
designations on federal government forms
24requesting this information.
25(c) Any state agency, board, or commission that directly or by
26contract collects demographic data on the ancestry, ethnic origin,
27ethnicity, or race of Californians shall do all of the following:
28(1) Provide forms that offer respondents the option of selecting
29one or more ethnic or racial designations pursuant to the federal
30Office of Management and Budget’s “Standards for Maintaining,
31Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.”
32Recommended forms for the instruction accompanying a multiple
33response question are “mark one or more” and “select one or
34more.” A single designation for multiracial respondents does not
35satisfy this requirement.
36(2) Ensure in cases when data on respondents’ ancestry, ethnic
37origin, ethnicity, or race is reported to any other state agency,
38board, or commission that it is neither tabulated nor reported
39without all of the following:
P3 1(A) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
2each ethnic or racial designation alone and not in combination with
3any other ethnic or racial designation.
4(B) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
5each ethnic or racial designation, whether alone or in combination
6with other ethnic or racial designations.
7(C) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
8multiple ethnic or racial designations.
9(D) For civil rights monitoring and enforcement, complying
10with the rules for multiple race response allocation issued by the
11federal Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 00-02 in
12cases of state or federally mandated actions related to an ethnic or
13a racial community, or to assessing disparate impact or
14discriminatory patterns. In these cases, the requirement of
15subparagraph (C) shall not be considered satisfied without also
16complying with the requirements of subparagraphs (A), (B), and
17(D).
18(d) Each state agency, board, or commission required to comply
19with subdivision (c) shall comply as early as reasonably feasible
20when updating forms, software, hardware, or information collection
21procedures, and in no event later than January 1, ____.
22(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any
23state agency, board, or commission that collects demographic data
24from a local agency may continue to collect and report that data
25to any other state agency, board, or commission in the form that
26the local agency submits it.
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