BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Isadore Hall, III
Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 959 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015
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|Author: |Chiu |
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|Version: |7/7/2015 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Arthur Terzakis |
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SUBJECT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Disparities
Reduction Act
DIGEST: This bill enacts the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Disparities Reduction Act and requires four
specified state entities (the Department of Health Care
Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department of
Social Services, and the Department of Aging) to include the
collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data in the
course of their current demographic data collection efforts.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires a state agency, board, or commission that
directly, or by contract, collects demographic data as to the
ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to use separate
collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian group
and each major Pacific Islander group. This data is required to
be made available to the public in accordance with state and
federal law, except for personal identifying information, which
shall be deemed confidential.
This bill:
1)Requires the Department of Health Care Services, the
Department of Public Health, the Department of Social
Services, and the Department of Aging, in the course of
collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the
AB 959 (Chiu) Page 2 of ?
ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect
voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual
orientation and gender identity.
2)Requires collected data to be reported to the public in
accordance with state and federal law, except for personal
identifying information, which shall be deemed confidential
and shall not be disclosed.
3)Stipulates that the four state entities identified above may
use information voluntarily provided about sexual orientation
and gender identity only for demographic analysis,
coordination of care, quality improvement of services,
conducting approved research, fulfilling reporting
requirements, and guiding policy or funding decisions.
4)Makes it explicit that all information about sexual
orientation and gender identity collected pursuant to this
bill must be used only for purposes specified in this Act.
5)Requires the four state entities identified above to comply
with the provisions of this Act as soon as possible, but no
later than July 1, 2017.
6)Finds and declares that due to the sensitive general nature of
data relating to sexual orientation and gender identity and
the need to protect the safety of those who would provide
voluntary self-identification information pertaining to their
sexual orientation and gender identity, it is necessary to
prohibit the public disclosure of personal identifying
information that would allow the identification of an
individual who provided voluntary self-identification
information pertaining to sexual orientation and gender
identity.
7)States legislative intent that the state departments
identified above utilize existing work and research,
including, but not limited to, referencing research on
promising and community-defined practices and stakeholders
when developing questions to collect voluntary self-identified
information pertaining to sexual orientation and gender
identity.
AB 959 (Chiu) Page 3 of ?
8)Contains various legislative findings and declarations
relative to the limited data available for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) communities and due to
historical systematic exclusion of data collection of LGBT
communities, significant disparities in their health and
welfare have been prolonged compared to the broader community.
Also, declares that it is in the best interests of the state
to respect, embrace, and understand the full diversity of its
residents and to collect accurate data to effectively
implement and deliver critical state services and programs.
Background
State government agencies routinely collect demographic data on
race, ethnicity, gender, and disability on a wide variety of
state forms and surveys. The purpose of this data is to help
better understand disparities in underserved communities.
Current law only requires any state agency, board, or commission
that directly, or by contract, collects demographic data to
separate the collection of this data by major Asian groups. The
law is silent on demographic data collection based on sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Purpose of AB 959. According to the author's office, this bill
seeks to reduce health and well-being disparities for LGBT
communities by ensuring that sexual orientation and gender
identity data is collected on a statewide basis by key
government agencies that deal with health and human services.
The author's office states, "Due to the systematic exclusion of
data collection of LGBT communities, significant disparities in
their health and welfare have been prolonged compared to the
broader community. LGBT communities face disproportionately
high rates of poverty, suicide, homelessness, isolation,
substance abuse, and violence, and low rates of health
insurance. These issues are more prevalent for youth and
seniors, communities of color, and transgender and undocumented
communities. Collecting voluntary data on sexual orientation
and gender identity is a necessary first step to understand the
extent to which LGBT communities are experiencing disparities
and whether government programs are effectively reaching LBGT
individuals in need of care and assistance."
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 532 (McCarty, 2015) requires any state agency, board, or
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commission that collects demographic data to provide forms that
offer respondents the option of identifying as "multiracial" and
selecting one or more ethnic or racial designations. (Pending
in Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 176 (Bonta, 2015) places certain requirements regarding the
collection of demographic data, by the state's public segments
of postsecondary education and by state health-related
departments, pertaining to tabulation categories of Native
Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Islander groups. (Pending in
Senate policy committee)
SB 280 (Lieu, 2014) would have authorized, until January 1,
2015, the application form for insurance affordability program
coverage to include additional voluntary questions on sexual
orientation and gender identity or expression. Also, would have
required, effective January 1, 2016, the application form to
include voluntary questions regarding demographic data
categories, including race, ethnicity, primary language,
disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or
expression and other categories recognized by the federal
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Died
on Senate Appropriations Suspense File)
AB 1208 (Pan, 2013) contained similar provisions to SB 280
(Lieu, 2014). (Vetoed by the Governor who stated, "the state
does not need to mandate these requirements in law as DHCS and
Covered California already have the authority to modify these
types of questions on the form, and they can work constructively
with stakeholders to decide what is necessary to change for 2015
and beyond.")
SB 416 (Kehoe, 2011) would have required the statewide Health
Interview Survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System to include specified information related to sexual
orientation or gender identity. (Vetoed by the Governor who
stated, "what particular questions should be in these health
surveys is better handled by the current process, not the
Legislature or the Governor.")
AB 1088 (Eng, Chapter 689, Statutes of 2011) required certain
state agencies to collect and tabulate data for additional major
Asian groups, as listed, in order to better reflect the
diversity of Asian American, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
communities in California.
AB 959 (Chiu) Page 5 of ?
AB 1878 (Lieu, 2010) would have required all California agency
forms that ask for demographic information to include sexual
orientation or gender identity. (Died on Assembly
Appropriations Suspense File)
AB 1281 (Portantino, 2009) would have enacted the California
School Racial Equality Designation Act and required any state
agency, board, or commission that directly, or by contract,
collects demographic data on the race or ethnicity of pupils in
any elementary or secondary school to provide written
instructions for reporting racial information that specify that
multiracial pupils may select 2 or more racial categories.
(Vetoed - Governor's message stated the California Department of
Education has already put into place processes to update forms
and instructions to accommodate the inclusion of multiracial
students. Therefore, this bill is unnecessary.)
SB 26 (Simitian, 2007) would have enacted the "Ethnic Heritage
Respect and Recognition Act of 2007" requiring any state entity
that collects demographic data on the ancestry, ethnic origin,
ethnicity, or race of Californians to provide forms that offer
respondents the option of selecting one or more ethnic or racial
designations. (Died in Assembly Appropriations)
SB 1615 (Simitian, 2006) would have enacted 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, 2014, to provide forms that offer respondents the
option of selecting one more ethnic or racial designation
according to specified federal standards. (Died in Senate
Appropriations)
AB 2324 (Chan, 2004), among other things, would have required
each state program directly involved in furnishing information
to, or rendering services to, the public to collect data
regarding the race, ethnicity, and primary language of all
participants, on a voluntary basis. (Died in Assembly
Appropriations)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
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SUPPORT:
AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Alcohol Justice
American Civil Liberties Union of California (ACLU)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
Anti-Defamation League
Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Immigrant Policy Center
California LGBT Health and Human Services Network
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Compassionate Community Care
Equality California
Gay-Straight Alliance Network of California
Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center
LGBTQ Center of Long Beach
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Lutheran Social Services of Northern California
Maitri AIDS Hospice
Meals on Wheels of San Francisco
Mental Health America of Northern California
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Native American Health Center
NorCal Mental Health America
Openhouse
Our Family Coalition
Queer LifeSpace
Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness
Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County
Sacramento LGBT Community Center
San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium
San Francisco Democratic Party
San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services
San Francisco Drug Users Union
San Francisco HIV/AIDS Provider Network
San Francisco LGBT Community Center
San Francisco Suicide Prevention's HIV/AIDS Nightline
Shanti Project
SteppingStone Adult Day Health
Trevor Project
UC San Francisco Center of Excellence for Transgender Health
UC San Francisco LGBT Resource Center
Westside Community Services AIDS Case Management & Home Care
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Program
OPPOSITION:
None received