BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1726
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1726 (Bonta)
As Amended August 19, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |54-22 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 23, |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED
SUMMARY: Requires, on or after July 1, 2022, to the extent
funding is specifically appropriated for this purpose, the
Department of Public Health (DPH), when collecting demographic
data on ancestry or ethnic origin of persons for a report that
includes rates for major diseases, leading causes of death per
demographic, subcategories for leading causes of death in
California overall, pregnancy rate, or housing number, to
disaggregate those data for specified Native Hawaiian (NH) and
other Asian and Pacific Islander (API) groups. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Prohibits DPH from reporting demographic data that would: a)
permit identification of individuals, as specified; and, b)
result in statistical unreliability.
2)Authorizes DPH to continue to collect and report demographic
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data in the form that the data was submitted if the data was
collected under either of the following circumstances:
a) Pursuant to federal programs or surveys, whereby the
guidelines for demographic data collection categories are
defined by the federal program or survey; or,
b) Demographic data collected by other entities, including
either of the following: i) state offices, departments,
and agencies, as specified; or, ii) third-party entity
administered surveys not solely funded by the department.
The Senate amendments narrow the scope of this bill to only
apply to DPH, as specified, and make other technical and
conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires state agencies, boards, and commissions that directly
or by contract collect demographic data as to the ancestry or
ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection
categories and tabulations for each major API group,
including, but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino,
Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Laotian, Cambodian,
Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan.
2)Requires the Department of Industrial Relations and the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing to collect and
tabulate data for additional major Asian groups.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs of at least $150,000 to make computer system
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upgrades by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to
allow for the collection of more detailed demographic data
(General Fund (GF) and federal funds). According to DHCS,
current computer systems used to manage enrollment and
benefits for the Medi-Cal program do not allow for the
collection of demographic information at the level of detail
required in the bill. The computer systems that would require
modification include three state operated systems and three
county-operated systems used to enroll individuals in
Medi-Cal.
2)One-time costs of about $600,000 per year for two years for
DPH to make system changes to several systems for collecting
public health data, to meet the requirements of the bill (GF).
3)One-time costs of about $10,000 and ongoing cost of about
$10,000 per year for the California State University System to
upgrade computer systems and ensure proper reporting of
student data (GF).
4)No significant costs are anticipated by the California
Community College System, as the Chancellor's Office
anticipates that the delayed implementation in the bill will
allow community college districts to incorporate the required
data system changes as part of their ongoing system
maintenance (GF).
5)No significant costs are anticipated by the University of
California (GF).
COMMENTS: The author states many of the communities within the
API population face similar challenges in California, such as
language barriers and immigration; however, they differ on many
issues. The author asserts this is most evident with respect to
education and public health, where the outcomes of some of the
largest NH and API groups within the aggregate population raise
the average outcome of the greater NH and API population as a
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whole. The author points to data from a 2013 report done by the
Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, which demonstrates
that 14% of Asian Americans are uninsured; disaggregated data
shows that Korean, Tongan, and Thai have uninsured rates higher
than 22% whereas only 8% to 10% of Japanese and Asian Indian
populations are uninsured. The author contends that the lack of
disaggregated data for the NH and API community within the
public health sector is limiting the state's ability to provide
the best health care to this population. The author concludes
that this bill will enable the state and public to identify
trends that are typically unseen through aggregate data, and
ensure that the state is adequately meeting the health needs of
its residents.
Analysis Prepared by:
Rosielyn Pulmano / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097 FN:
0004729