Date of Hearing: June 6, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Brian Maienschein, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:HR 30

Author:(Essayli) – As Introduced Ver:April 19, 2023

PROPOSED CONSENT

SUBJECT: Middle Eastern Or North African Data

KEY ISSUE: should the legislature express its support for the biden administration’s proposed update to federal demographic data collection policies to include, among other updates, new data collection related to persons of middle eastern or north African ancestry?

SYNOPSIS

Seeking to identify disparities in the provision of federal services between different demographic groups, in the 1970s, Congress directed the federal Office of Management and Budget to establish a uniform policy for federal agencies to utilize when collecting demographic information. That guidance has been periodically updated since the 1970s, however, the existing policy has not changed in nearly thirty years. As a result of the outdated federal policy, persons of Middle Eastern, Northern African, Latino, or Hispanic heritage are currently classified as “white” for federal demographic data collection purposes. The existing policy clearly results in poor data collection practices that overlooks the needs of critical segments of American society. As a result, the Biden Administration directed the Office of Management and Budget to update the policy in January.

This straightforward resolution would express support for the proposed inclusion of a separate “Middle Eastern or Northern African” category for the collection of demographic information by federal agencies. This resolution has no registered support or opposition.

SUMMARY: Encourages the federal Office of Management and Budget to include “Middle Eastern or North African” ancestry as a response option on all federal forms collecting demographic information. Specifically, this measure:

Adopts the following findings:
1. The federal government does not currently collect or produce data on the race and ethnicity of Middle Eastern or North African populations and has not updated its standards for data collection on race and ethnicity since 1997;
2. The nation’s diversity has changed significantly since 1997 and, at the same time, conditions have worsened for marginalized groups and especially for those not recognized in federal data, like individuals from the Middle Eastern or North African regions;
3. Demographic data on Middle Eastern or North African populations is currently aggregated under the “White” racial category on the decennial census and other federal information collection forms;
4. The United States Office of Management and Budget sets the standards for all federal data collection on race and ethnicity under Statistical Policy Directive Number 15 (SPD 15) and is considering a revision to SPD 15 that would require all federal agencies to collect data on race and ethnicity through a single question that includes a “Middle Eastern or North African” response;
5. The systematic exclusion of Middle Eastern and North African populations from federal data bars Middle Eastern and North African communities from accessing equal protection from discrimination and equal opportunity to benefit from federal programs that serve culturally specific or linguistically isolated groups;
6. Data on race and ethnicity is a critical tool for communities to advocate for protection under the federal Voting Rights Act, assistance under the federal Small Business Act, and health care services under the federal Public Health Service Act, to name just a few federally supported programs that reference race and ethnic data in their enforcement;
7. The Assembly has taken steps to promote equality in its provision of services and protections for all communities through additional language access initiatives, and would benefit greatly from being able to identify inequalities, such as health, education, or employment, experienced by Middle Eastern or North African populations in all federal surveys and information collections;
8. The Arab American Civic Council, among many other organizations, is advocating for the Office of Management and Budget to require that all federally conducted and supported data collection activities, including the decennial census, collect data on race and ethnicity through a combined question that includes a “Middle Eastern or North African” response category; and
9. Collecting racial and ethnic data on Middle Eastern or North African populations will ensure that federal, state, and local governments recognize and meet the needs of all communities.
Resolves the following:
1. That the Assembly urges the Office of Management and Budget to include Middle Eastern or North African as a response option across all federal information collection activities and encourages residents to make public comments in support of the proposed revision to SPD 15;
2. That this resolution serves as a letter of support for the Office of Management and Budget to revise SPD 15 to include a Middle Eastern or North African response category as part of a combined race and ethnicity question; and
3. That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to every Member of the California State Legislature, and to the United States Office of Management and Budget.

EXISTING LAW:

Establishes, pursuant to federal policy, a minimum set of categories that federal agencies must use if they intend to collect information on race and ethnicity. (62 F.R. 58782.)
Provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. (Civil Code Section 51 (b).)
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 the following:
1. Each major Asian group, including, but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Laotian, and Cambodian; and
2. Each major Pacific Islander group, including, but not limited to, Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan. (Government Code Section 8310.5.)
Requires, on or after January 1, 2024, the State Controller’s Office, to the extent the State Controller’s Office has completed the functionality necessary, and the Department of Human Resources, when collecting demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of persons hired into state employment, to include the following additional collection categories and tabulations for Black or African American groups, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
1. African Americans who are descendants of persons who were enslaved in the United States;
2. Blacks who are not descendants of persons who were enslaved in the United States, including, but not limited to, African Blacks, Caribbean Blacks, and other Blacks; and
3. Unknown or choose not to identify. (Government Code Section 8310.6.)
Requires any state agency, board, or commission that directly or by contract collects demographic data on the ethnic origin, ethnicity, or race of Californians to do all of the following:
1. Provide forms that offer respondents the option of selecting one or more ethnic or racial designations. Recommended forms for the instruction accompanying a multiple response question are “mark one or more” or “select one or more;” and
2. Ensure in cases when data on respondents’ ethnic origin, ethnicity, or race is reported to any other state agency, board, or commission that it is neither tabulated nor reported without calculating the number or percentage of respondents who identify with each ethnic or racial designation alone and not in combination with any other ethnic or racial designation, calculating the number or percentage of respondents who identify with each ethnic or racial designation, whether alone or in combination with other ethnic or racial designations, and calculating the number or percentage of respondents who identify with multiple ethnic or racial designations. (Government Code Section 8310.9.)

COMMENTS: In the mid-1970s, Congress tasked the federal Office of Management and Budget with coordinating the collection of various types of demographic data by federal agencies. The current Office of Management and Budget guidelines for collecting this data was last updated in 1997. Given that the existing standards are nearly 30 years old, in January, the Biden Administration directed the Office of Management and Budget to begin the process of updating the demographic data collection standards. (Office of Management and Budget, Initial Proposals For Updating OMB's Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards, 88 FR 5375.) The existing standards define “white” as those descending from the “original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.” (Hansi Lo Wong, New 'Latino' and 'Middle Eastern or North African' checkboxes proposed for U.S. forms, National Public Radio (Apr. 2023) available at: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/26/1151608403/mena-race-categories-us-census-middle-eastern-latino-hispanic.) The present Biden Administration proposal would split the “white” category and provide individuals of “Middle Eastern or Northern African” ancestry their own unique check box for providing demographic information to the federal government. This straightforward resolution would express the Legislature’s support for the new demographic designations. In support of this resolution, the author states:

Currently Middle Eastern and North African populations are aggregated under the “White” racial category in federal data collection. This exclusion from federal data denies them equal protection and access to federal programs.

Background on federal demographic data collection. Seeking to identify disparities in the provision of federal services between different demographic groups, in the 1970s, Congress directed the federal Office of Management and Budget to establish a uniform policy for federal agencies to utilize when collecting demographic information. The existing federal demographic data collection guidelines were adopted in 1997, when the Office of Management and Budget issued Statistical Policy Directive Number 15. Over the nearly thirty years that Statistical Policy Directive Number 15 has guided federal data collection policies, it has become clear that the existing demographic collection policies are missing critical demographic groups, most notably persons of Hispanic or Latino descent and those of Middle Eastern or Northern African ancestry. Recognizing that omitting these demographic groups is resulting in inaccurate and incomplete federal data, in January 2023, the Biden Administration directed the Office of Management and Budget to update the federal government’s data collection policies. Indeed, reflecting the need for better demographic data collection, the initial draft data collection policy released by the Office of Management and Budget for public comment contains new demographic categories for “Middle Eastern or North African" and "Hispanic or Latino." (Hansi Lo Wong, New 'Latino' and ‘Middle Eastern or North African' checkboxes proposed for U.S. forms, supra.)

This resolution. The author notes that Middle East or North Africa communities are frequently underserved by government services. Accordingly, additional information is critical in order to understand how best to direct government services to these communities. Thus, this resolution expresses the Legislature’s support for the proposed updates to Statistical Policy Directive Number 15 to include unique data collection on persons of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Additionally, the resolution makes several findings and declarations.

Next steps in the federal policy making process and additional considerations for this resolution. As noted above the Office of Management and Budget released the proposed updates to Statistical Policy Directive Number 15 for public comment. That comment period closed in April and the agency is expected to respond to the comments and finalize the demographic data collection policy by the end of the summer. Although this resolution will not be an official public comment, as the comment period has closed, it still reflects the Legislature’s support for the updated form. Notably, however, this resolution only expresses support for the new “Middle Eastern or North African” demographic category. Given that the proposed policy will also include a new "Hispanic or Latino" category, a vitally important demographic group for a state as diverse as California, the author may wish to consider expanding the resolution to express support for the entire policy update and not simply the addition of the “Middle Eastern or North African” demographic category.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Nicholas Liedtke / JUD. / (916) 319-2334

HR 30

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