The New York State Senate

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

                                   677

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M. of A. NIOU, KIM, BLAKE, MORINELLO, DE LA ROSA, ROZIC,
  L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to  the  Committee  on  Govern-
  mental 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.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02242-01-9

A. 677                              2

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-
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.