BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
416
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 416 Author: Kehoe
As Proposed to be Amended: March 22, 2011
Hearing Date: March 22, 2011
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
State Government Forms: personal data
DESCRIPTION
SB 416 proposes to add questions regarding sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression,
domestic partnership status and the gender of a spouse or
partner as "voluntary" demographic information collected by
state entities in statewide surveys. Specifically, this
measure:
1.Stipulates the Director of General Services (DGS) must
provide notice to state agencies, form management
representatives, and departmental forms coordinators
that, in the usual course of reviewing and revising
surveys that collect demographic data and that are
administered, or funded fully or in part, by the state,
appropriate "voluntary" self-identification information
shall be collected by the surveys pertaining to sexual
orientation and gender identity and gender expression.
2.Also, specifies that surveys that ask about marital
status must also ask about registered domestic
partnership status and about the gender of the spouse or
partner.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law requires demographic data to be collected in a
SB 416 (Kehoe) continued
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voluntary way in various instances. For example, Welfare
and Institutions Code Section 16915 requires that
demographic information be collected for health and human
services programs. Additionally, judicial appointment
applicants self-report information such as ethnicity, race,
and gender (Government Code Section 12011.5).
Existing law (Government Code Section 14771) requires DGS
to establish and staff the forms management center for the
orderly design, implementation, and maintenance of a
statewide forms management program.
Existing law requires that in the usual course of reviewing
and revising all public-use forms that refer to or use the
terms spouse, husband, wife, father, mother, marriage, or
marital status, that appropriate references to
state-registered domestic partner, parent, or
state-registered domestic partnership be included.
Existing law requires that domestic partners, former
domestic partners, and surviving domestic partners have the
same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be
subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and
duties under law as are granted to and imposed upon
spouses, former spouses and widows or widowers in a civil
marriage.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of SB 416: The author's office notes that the
state currently administers a number of statewide surveys
that collect relevant information about Californians. For
example, the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the
nation's largest state health survey, provides a detailed
picture of the health and healthcare needs of California's
large and diverse population. Additionally, the Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a federal survey
administered by the state, has tracked health conditions
and risk behaviors in the United States since 1984.
The author's office points out that these and other
statewide surveys collect demographic information such as
race/ethnic identity, age, family size, health and safety
information and other data. However, data relating to
California's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
population is not currently being collected in a consistent
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manner by the state or federal government. The author's
office emphasizes that up-to-date data collection is
critical to the LGBT community, service providers, and
others in order to appropriately assess and provide much
needed resources and services to this community.
Some of the data available for the LGBT community shows
that:
13.4% of lesbian/bisexual women and 7.2% of
gay/bisexual men live in poverty (2007 California
Health Interview Survey).
Children in gay and lesbian couple households have
poverty rates twice those of children in heterosexual
married couple households (UCLA study from the
Williams Institute).
In 2008, hate crimes based on sexual orientation
and gender identity were the third most common type of
hate crime, comprising 20.3% of hate crimes
(California Department of Justice).
Arguments in Support: Proponents state that, "In an
environment of limited resources, it is critically
important that the State of California collect information
that allows those limited resources to be focused on doing
the most good at the lowest cost."
Author's Amendments: The author intends to submit the
following clarifying amendment in Committee on March 22,
2011: On page 3, line 30, after "identity" insert: and
gender expression.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 1878 (Lieu) 2009-10 Session: Would have required DGS to
revise all public forms that collect demographic data to
include information related to sexual orientation, domestic
partnership status, and gender identity. (Died in Assembly
Appropriations)
SUPPORT: As of March 18, 2011:
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Equality California (sponsor)
BIENESTAR
California Communities United Institute
California National Organization for Women
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Mental Health America of Northern California
Openhouse
Transgender Law Center
OPPOSE: None on file as of March 18, 2011
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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