S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3662
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
February 12, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring the
collection of certain demographic information by certain state agen-
cies, boards and commissions
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and
declares the following:
(a) Asian Americans as well as Native Hawaiians and other Pacific
Islanders are an incredibly diverse group. Due to this diversity, the
United States Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy
Directive No. 15, entitled Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statis-
tics and Administrative Reporting, separated the "Asian and Pacific
Islander" category into two distinct and separate categories, now called
"Asians" and "Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders," and these
two distinct categories were used in the 2000 United States Census. The
United States Census Bureau currently reports data for more than 20
different ethnicities within these two categories.
(b) While Asian Americans as well as Native Hawaiians and other Pacif-
ic Islanders are often misrepresented as a homogeneous group, they are
an extremely diverse group, with ethnicities from over 30 different
countries. Although Asian American as well as Native Hawaiian and other
Pacific Islander communities in this state share geographical and
cultural commonalities, they also experience diverse social, educa-
tional, health, and economic differences that are unique to their
respective communities.
(c) Existing state law requires state demographic data to be collected
for Asian and some Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups.
However, additional ethnic groups reported by the United States Census
Bureau are not included that reflect changing demographics and intra-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02242-01-9
S. 3662 2
state migration patterns. Most state agencies are currently not in
compliance with existing state law or have not made the collected data
accessible. Data should be updated on a regular basis and made accessi-
ble to the public so that regional and local governments, elected offi-
cials, decision makers, and other stakeholders can use the information
to strategically target programs for those most in need.
(d) Given the diversity of languages and cultures, separating data for
additional Asian and additional Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
ethnic groups and making the data publicly accessible are critical for
enhancing our state's understanding of the needs and experiences of
these different communities.
§ 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 170-c to
read as follows:
§ 170-C. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION. 1. EVERY STATE AGEN-
CY, BOARD, OR COMMISSION THAT DIRECTLY OR BY CONTRACT COLLECTS DEMO-
GRAPHIC DATA AS TO THE ANCESTRY OR ETHNIC ORIGIN OF RESIDENTS OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK SHALL USE SEPARATE COLLECTION CATEGORIES AND TABU-
LATIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING:
(A) EACH MAJOR ASIAN GROUP, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CHINESE,
JAPANESE, FILIPINO, KOREAN, VIETNAMESE, ASIAN INDIAN, LAOTIAN, CAMBODI-
AN, BANGLADESHI, HMONG, INDONESIAN, MALAYSIAN, PAKISTANI, SRI LANKAN,
TAIWANESE, NEPALESE, BURMESE, TIBETAN, AND THAI; AND
(B) EACH MAJOR PACIFIC ISLANDER GROUP, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
HAWAIIAN, GUAMANIAN, SAMOAN, FIJIAN AND TONGAN; OR
(C) OTHER ASIAN OR PACIFIC ISLAND GROUP.
2. EVERY STATE AGENCY, BOARD, OR COMMISSION THAT DIRECTLY OR BY
CONTRACT COLLECTS DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AS TO THE ANCESTRY OR ETHNIC ORIGIN
OF RESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHALL USE SEPARATE COLLECTION
CATEGORIES AND TABULATIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING:
(A) THE PRIMARY LANGUAGE; AND
(B) THE PLACE OF BIRTH OR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.
3. THE DATA COLLECTED PURSUANT TO THE DIFFERENT COLLECTION CATEGORIES
AND TABULATIONS DESCRIBED IN SUBDIVISION (A) SHALL BE INCLUDED IN EVERY
DEMOGRAPHIC REPORT ON ANCESTRY OR ETHNIC ORIGINS OF RESIDENTS OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK BY THE STATE AGENCY, BOARD, OR COMMISSION PUBLISHED OR
RELEASED ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY. THE DATA SHALL BE
MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAW,
EXCEPT FOR PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION, WHICH SHALL BE DEEMED
CONFIDENTIAL, BY POSTING THE DATA ON THE INTERNET WEB SITE OF THE AGENCY
ON OR BEFORE JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY, AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER.
THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO PREVENT ANY OTHER STATE AGEN-
CY FROM POSTING DATA COLLECTED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (A) ON THE AGEN-
CY'S INTERNET WEB SITE, IN THE MANNER PRESCRIBED BY THIS SECTION.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law.