Amended in Assembly May 20, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 532

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Campos, Gonzalez, Linder, Thurmond, and Williams)

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February 23, 2015

An act to add Section begin delete 8310.6 end delete begin insert 8310.9 end insert to the Government Code, relating to state agencies.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 532, as amended, McCarty. State agencies: collection of data: race 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 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, 2022, to provide forms that offer respondents the option of identifying as multiracial and selecting one more ethnic or racial designations.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section begin delete 8310.6 end delete begin insert 8310.9 end insert is added to the Government
Code, to read:

begin delete 8310.6. end delete
begin insert 8310.9. end insert   

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:

(1) The State of California currently has the largest population
of people in the United States who identify with more than one
ethnicity or race. This population of Californians who identify as
multiracial is rapidly growing.

(2) Many state forms that currently require respondents to
choose only a single ethnicity or race force multiracial Californians
to deny a significant part of their heritage. Information collected
in this manner often deprives the state of accurate data with which
to meet the needs of its diverse communities.

(3) It is in the best interest of the State of California to respect,
embrace, and understand the full diversity of its citizens.

(4) Since 1997, the federal Office of Management and Budget’s
“Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal
Data on Race and Ethnicity” have required federal agencies to
ensure that individuals have the option of selecting one or more
ethnic or racial designations on federal government forms
requesting this information.

(b) Any state agency, board, or commission that directly or by
contract collects demographic data on the ethnic origin, ethnicity,
or race of Californians shall do all of the following:

(1) Provide forms that offer respondents the option of identifying
as multiracial and selecting one or more ethnic or racial
designations. Recommended forms for the instruction
accompanying a multiple response question are “mark one or more”
or “select one or more.”

(2) Ensure in cases when data on respondents’ ethnic origin,
ethnicity, or race is reported to any other state agency, board, or
commission that it is neither tabulated nor reported without all of
the following:

(A) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
each ethnic or racial designation alone and not in combination with
any other ethnic or racial designation.

(B) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
each ethnic or racial designation, whether alone or in combination
with other ethnic or racial designations.

(C) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
multiple ethnic or racial designations.

(D) For civil rights monitoring and enforcement, complying
with the rules for multiple race response allocation issued by the
federal Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 00-02 in
cases of state or federally mandated actions related to an ethnic or
a racial community, or to assessing disparate impact or
discriminatory patterns. In these cases, the requirement of
subparagraph (C) shall not be considered satisfied without also
complying with the requirements of subparagraphs (A), (B), and
(D).

(c) Each state agency, board, or commission required to comply
with subdivision begin delete (c) end delete begin insert (b) end insert shall comply as early as reasonably feasible
when updating forms, software, hardware, or information collection
procedures, and in no event later than January 1, 2022.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any
state agency, board, or commission that collects demographic data
from a local agency may continue to collect and report that data
to any other state agency, board, or commission in the form that
the local agency submits it.