The New York State Senate

                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  9792

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              April 5, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M. of A. MENG -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Governmental Operations

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-
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-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD15059-01-2

A. 9792                             2

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.
  S 2. The executive law is amended by adding a  new  section  170-c  to
read as follows:
  S  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, AND THAI; AND
  (B) EACH MAJOR PACIFIC ISLANDER GROUP, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED  TO,
HAWAIIAN, GUAMANIAN, SAMOAN, FIJIAN AND TONGAN.
  2.  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 THIRTEEN. 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 THIRTEEN, 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.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law.