BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 532


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          Date of Hearing:  May 13, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          532 (McCarty) - As Amended April 20, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires any state agency, board, or commission that  
          collects demographic data to provide forms that offer the option  
          of "multiracial" identification, and selecting one or more  
          ethnic or racial designations.  Specifically, this bill:








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          1)Requires state agencies, boards, or commissions when reporting  
            respondents data to any other state agency, board, or  
            commission to tabulate and report all of the following:


             a)   The number or percentage of respondents who identify  
               with each ethnic or racial designation alone.


             b)   The number or percentage of respondents who identify  
               with each ethnic or racial designation in combination with  
               other ethnic or racial designations.


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


             d)   Federally mandated actions related to civil rights  
               monitoring and enforcement.


          2)Requires state agencies, boards, or commissions to comply as  
            soon as reasonably feasible, but no later than January 1,  
            2022.


          3)Allows any state agency, board, or commission that collects  
            demographic data from a local agency to continue to collect  
            and report that data in the form the local agency submits.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Minor costs to state agencies, boards and commissions that  
          collect demographic data to update forms and information  








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          collection procedures over a six-year period ending January 1,  
          2022. 


          COMMENTS:


          Background and Purpose. Data collection by state agencies,  
          boards, or commissions that collect demographic data is not  
          uniform across entities.  Existing law sets minimum requirements  
          but does not limit the amount of information an entity may  
          collect. Current collection forms seek to provide multiple  
          racial designations from which an individual may select more  
          than one designation to express their racial identity.   
          Difficulty arises, however, when an individual finds that their  
          racial identity cannot be accurately expressed through the  
          limited number of racial designations listed on the forms.  Race  
          organizations have identified the need for individuals who  
          consider themselves multiracial to have the option of  
          self-identifying as simply "multiracial" as opposed to  
          attempting to express their racial identity through an ever  
          expanding list of racial designations. By adding a racial  
          designation of "multiracial" in combination with allowing more  
          than one ethnic or racial designation, this bill allows  
          individuals to choose the method that best suits them.


          


          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081















                                                                     AB 532


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