The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6639--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 10, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  SALAZAR, GAUGHRAN, GOUNARDES, REICHLIN-MELNICK --
   read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
   the  Committee  on  Finance  --  committee  discharged,  bill amended,
   ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to  amend  the  executive  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  the
   collection  of  certain demographic information by certain state agen-
   cies, boards, departments 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.

                                                            LBD10834-03-1

 S. 6639--A                          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-e  to
 read as follows:
   §  170-E. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.  1. EVERY STATE AGEN-
 CY, BOARD, DEPARTMENT,  OR  COMMISSION  THAT  DIRECTLY  OR  BY  CONTRACT
 COLLECTS  DEMOGRAPHIC  DATA AS TO THE ANCESTRY OR ETHNIC ORIGIN OF RESI-
 DENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHALL USE SEPARATE COLLECTION  CATEGORIES
 AND TABULATIONS 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, DEPARTMENT, 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 SPOKEN AT HOME; AND
   (B) THE ETHIC GROUP OR ANCESTRY.
   3.  THE DATA COLLECTED PURSUANT TO THE DIFFERENT COLLECTION CATEGORIES
 AND TABULATIONS DESCRIBED IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS  SECTION  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,  DEPART-
 MENT,  OR  COMMISSION  PUBLISHED OR RELEASED ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO. 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, BOARD, DEPARTMENT, OR COMMISSION ON
 OR  BEFORE JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER.
 THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO PREVENT ANY OTHER STATE AGEN-
 CY FROM POSTING DATA COLLECTED  PURSUANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  THIS
 SECTION  ON  THE AGENCY'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.