| 1 | 1 | | <STYLE><!--U {color: Green}S {color: RED} I {color: DARKBLUE; background-color:yellow} P.brk {page-break-before:always}--></STYLE> <BASEFONT SIZE=3> <PRE WIDTH="136"> <FONT SIZE=5><B> STATE OF NEW YORK</B></FONT> ________________________________________________________________________ 7664 2025-2026 Regular Sessions <FONT SIZE=5><B> IN SENATE</B></FONT> April 28, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 state agencies, boards, departments and commissions <B><U>The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-</U></B> <B><U>bly, do enact as follows:</U></B> 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and 2 declares the following: 3 (a) Black Americans/African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and Continental 4 Africans are an incredibly diverse group. Despite this diversity, the 5 United States Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy 6 Directive No. 15, entitled Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statis- 7 tics and Administrative Reporting, has combined all the various ethnici- 8 ties that are a part of those demographics into one "Black/African Amer- 9 ican" category. This category was used in the 2020 United States Census. 10 The United States Census Bureau currently reports data for all the 11 different ethnicities under this category. Moreover, this simplification 12 extends to other Afro-descendant populations, such as Afro-Latinos from 13 Central and South America. These individuals can choose to identify as 14 either "Black/African American" or "Hispanic" according to the direc- 15 tive's definition. This approach has led to challenges in accurately 16 representing the unique political and social needs within this broadly 17 defined category. The majority of this group includes descendants of 18 individuals who were enslaved and later emancipated in the U.S., while a 19 smaller portion consists of people who have immigrated to the United 20 States voluntarily and navigate its immigration laws. 21 (b) While "Black/African Americans" are often misrepresented as a 22 homogeneous group, they are an extremely diverse group, with ethnicities 23 from over 87 different countries. Although Black American/African Ameri- 24 can, Afro-Caribbean, Continental African communities and all other afro- EXPLANATION--Matter in <B><U>italics</U></B> (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [<B><S> </S></B>] is old law to be omitted. LBD08262-03-5 </PRE><P CLASS="brk"><PRE WIDTH="136"> S. 7664 2 1 population groups in this state share geographical commonalities, they 2 also experience diverse social, educational, health, and economic 3 differences that are unique to their respective communities. 4 (c) Existing state law requires state demographic data to be collected 5 for the "Black/African American" ethnic/racial group. However, addi- 6 tional ethnic groups reported by the United States Census Bureau are not 7 included that reflect changing demographics and intra-state migration 8 patterns. Most state agencies are currently not in compliance with 9 existing state law or have not made the collected data accessible. Data 10 should be updated on a regular basis and made accessible to the public 11 so that regional and local governments, elected officials, decision 12 makers, and other stakeholders can use the information to strategically 13 target programs for those most in need. 14 (d) Precedent has been set by the recent passing of chapter 745 of the 15 laws of 2021, requiring the collection of certain demographic informa- 16 tion by certain state agencies, boards and commissions within the Asian 17 American Pacific Islander communities. Precedent was also set on the 18 2020 US census which disaggregated both Asian and Latino groups. The 19 United States Census Bureau currently reports data for more than 20 20 different ethnicities within the "Asian" & "Native Hawaiians and Other 21 Pacific Islanders" categories alone. 22 (e) On January 26th, 2023, Dr. Karin Orvis, the Chief Statistician of 23 The United States, made an important announcement. She released a state- 24 ment titled "Initial Proposals for Revising the Federal Race and Ethnic- 25 ity Standards." This marks a significant step by the Office of the Chief 26 Statistician to update the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) 27 statistical standards for race and ethnicity data collection and report- 28 ing across Federal agencies, as outlined in Directive No. 15. Key points 29 from Dr. Orvis's statement include: 30 (i) The publication of initial recommended revisions. These were 31 proposed by an Interagency Technical Working Group. 32 (ii) A call for public input. Dr. Orvis emphasized the desire to hear 33 directly from the American public. Feedback from non-governmental stake- 34 holders and the general public is crucial. It will assist the Working 35 Group in refining and finalizing its recommendations. 36 (iii) An invitation for everyone to share their thoughts. Dr. Orvis 37 encourages individuals to provide personal insights and reactions to the 38 proposals. This includes thoughts on how the changes may impact differ- 39 ent communities. 40 "In the subsequent report from the OMB, titled 'Major Themes From 41 Initial Public Listening Sessions' on page 6, it is stated, 'Data Disag- 42 gregation For The Black Or African American Population.' Presenters 43 supported adding detailed categories within the Black or African Ameri- 44 can minimum reporting category to enable identification of descendants 45 of enslaved Americans. Most presenters requested a new detailed catego- 46 ry, such as 'American Freedmen' or 'American Descendant of Slavery.' 47 Disaggregated data could then be used to allocate benefits for programs 48 or initiatives." 49 The overwhelming feedback from the American people regarding the 50 "Black/African American" category was that it was unable to accurately 51 collect the data necessary to adequately serve the different and diverse 52 ethnic groups that fall under that single category. 53 (f) In the New York City report titled "How Communities of Interest 54 Are Evolving in New York City Today: Communities of Interest 2023," 55 submitted to the New York City Districting Commission during the tenure 56 of the late Dr. John Flateau as Executive Director, data were analyzed </PRE><P CLASS="brk"><PRE WIDTH="136"> S. 7664 3 1 by ethnic group, revealing stark differences in various measurable 2 metrics for each group. Outcomes like those highlighted in the report, 3 along with their solutions, will continue to be overlooked and unad- 4 dressed until New York State adopts a similar approach to data compila- 5 tion. 6 (g) Given the diversity of languages and cultures, separating data for 7 the multiple ethnic groups that fall under the Black/African American 8 category and making the data publicly accessible are critical for 9 enhancing our state's understanding of the needs and experiences of 10 these different communities. 11 § 2. Section 170-e of the executive law, as amended by chapter 123 of 12 the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 13 § 170-e. Collection of demographic information. 1. <B><U>(a)</U></B> Every state 14 agency, board, department, or commission that directly collects demo- 15 graphic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of residents of the 16 state of New York shall use separate collection categories and tabu- 17 lations for the following Asian and Pacific Islander groups in New York 18 state: 19 [<B><S>(a)</S></B>] <B><U>(i)</U></B> each major Asian group shall include Chinese, Japanese, 20 Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and 21 all of the ten most populous Asian groups in the most recent five-year 22 American community survey published by the United States Census Bureau; 23 and 24 [<B><S>(b)</S></B>] <B><U>(ii)</U></B> each major Pacific Islander group shall include Native 25 Hawaiian, Guamanian and Chamorro, and Samoan; or 26 [<B><S>(c)</S></B>] <B><U>(iii)</U></B> collection categories shall include a category for other 27 Asian or Pacific Island group. 28 [<B><S>2.</S></B>] <B><U>(b)</U></B> Every state agency, board, department, or commission that 29 directly collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin 30 of residents of the state of New York shall use separate collection 31 categories and tabulations for the following: 32 [<B><S>(a)</S></B>] <B><U>(i)</U></B> the primary language spoken at home; and 33 [<B><S>(b)</S></B>] <B><U>(ii)</U></B> the ethnic group or ancestry. 34 [<B><S>3.</S></B>] <B><U>(c)</U></B> Upon the release of a new five-year American community survey 35 published by the United States Census Bureau, every state agency, board, 36 department or commission shall update their data collection and report- 37 ing practices as required by this [<B><S>section</S></B>] <B><U>subdivision</U></B> and shall 38 continue to collect and report on any demographic group no longer 39 included in the ten most populous groups until the release of the 40 following five-year American community survey, at which time state agen- 41 cies, boards, departments or commissions may cease to collect and report 42 on such demographic groups provided they remain outside the ten most 43 populous groups. 44 [<B><S>4.</S></B>] <B><U>(d)</U></B> The data collected pursuant to the different collection cate- 45 gories and tabulations described in <B><U>paragraph (a) of this</U></B> subdivision 46 [<B><S>one of this section</S></B>], to the degree that the data quality is suffi- 47 cient, shall be included in every demographic report on ancestry or 48 ethnic origins of residents of the state of New York by the state agen- 49 cy, board, department, or commission published or released on or after 50 December first, two thousand twenty-three; provided, however, that for 51 the department of labor, division of criminal justice services, office 52 of mental health and office of temporary and disability assistance such 53 requirements shall be effective July first, two thousand twenty-four. 54 The data shall be made available to the public in accordance with state 55 and federal law, except for personal identifying information, which 56 shall be deemed confidential, by posting the data on the internet web </PRE><P CLASS="brk"><PRE WIDTH="136"> S. 7664 4 1 site of the agency, board, department, or commission on or before Decem- 2 ber first, two thousand twenty-three, and annually thereafter; provided, 3 however, that for the department of labor, division of criminal justice 4 services, office of mental health and office of temporary and disability 5 assistance such requirements shall be effective July first, two thousand 6 twenty-four. If the data quality is determined to be insufficient for 7 publication, an explanation of the problem with the data quality shall 8 be included in any report or publication made available to the public. 9 This [<B><S>subdivision</S></B>] <B><U>paragraph</U></B> shall not be construed to prevent any other 10 state agency from posting data collected pursuant to <B><U>paragraph (a) of</U></B> 11 <B><U>this</U></B> subdivision [<B><S>one of this section</S></B>] on the agency's internet web 12 site, in the manner prescribed by this [<B><S>section</S></B>] <B><U>subdivision</U></B>. 13 [<B><S>5.</S></B>] <B><U>(e)</U></B> The requirements of this [<B><S>section</S></B>] <B><U>subdivision</U></B> shall not 14 apply to the department of labor, the division of criminal justice 15 services, the office of mental health or the office of temporary and 16 disability assistance until two years after this [<B><S>section</S></B>] <B><U>subdivision</U></B> 17 shall have become a law. 18 <B><U>2. (a) Every state agency, board, department, or commission that</U></B> 19 <B><U>directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or</U></B> 20 <B><U>ethnic origin of residents of the state of New York shall use separate</U></B> 21 <B><U>collection categories and tabulations for the following afro groups in</U></B> 22 <B><U>New York state:</U></B> 23 <B><U>(i) "Descendants of persons ensalved in the United States" means</U></B> 24 <B><U>descendants of persons enslaved in the United States as defined as indi-</U></B> 25 <B><U>viduals historically classified as Negros, Colored, Mulatto, Black,</U></B> 26 <B><U>Black-American, and African-American with at least one ancestor who was</U></B> 27 <B><U>enslaved or subject to chattel slavery in the United States, were eman-</U></B> 28 <B><U>cipated via the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amend-</U></B> 29 <B><U>ment of 1865 and given the status of Freedmen.</U></B> 30 <B><U>(ii) "Continental Africans" means individuals with ancestry and/or</U></B> 31 <B><U>citizenship from the continent of Africa, including, but not limited to,</U></B> 32 <B><U>one or more of the following countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswa-</U></B> 33 <B><U>na, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Repub-</U></B> 34 <B><U>lic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo,</U></B> 35 <B><U>Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon,</U></B> 36 <B><U>Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya,</U></B> 37 <B><U>Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique,</U></B> 38 <B><U>Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and</U></B> 39 <B><U>Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa,</U></B> 40 <B><U>South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, or</U></B> 41 <B><U>Zimbabwe.</U></B> 42 <B><U>(iii) "Afro-Caribbeans" means individuals with ancestry and citizen-</U></B> 43 <B><U>ship from Caribbean countries, including, but not limited to one or more</U></B> 44 <B><U>of the following countries: Belize, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti,</U></B> 45 <B><U>Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, St. Croix, St. Kitts,</U></B> 46 <B><U>the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic, etc.</U></B> 47 <B><U>(iv) "Central and South American Afro-Latinos" means individuals with</U></B> 48 <B><U>ancestry and/or citizenship from Central and South American countries,</U></B> 49 <B><U>including, but not limited to one or more of the following countries:</U></B> 50 <B><U>Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,</U></B> 51 <B><U>Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French</U></B> 52 <B><U>Guiana (departement of France), Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname,</U></B> 53 <B><U>Uruguay, or Venezuela.</U></B> 54 <B><U>(v) "Other afro groups" means individuals who identify as having Afri-</U></B> 55 <B><U>can ancestry or ethnic origin but do not identify as one of the other</U></B> 56 <B><U>afro groups defined in this paragraph.</U></B> </PRE><P CLASS="brk"><PRE WIDTH="136"> S. 7664 5 1 <B><U>(b) Every state agency, board, department, or commission that directly</U></B> 2 <B><U>or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic</U></B> 3 <B><U>origin of residents of the state of New York shall use separate</U></B> 4 <B><U>collection categories and tabulations for the following:</U></B> 5 <B><U>(i) The primary language spoken at home; and</U></B> 6 <B><U>(ii) The ethnic group or ancestry.</U></B> 7 <B><U>(c) The data collected pursuant to the different collection categories</U></B> 8 <B><U>and tabulations described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be</U></B> 9 <B><U>included in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of</U></B> 10 <B><U>residents of the state of New York by the state agency, board, depart-</U></B> 11 <B><U>ment, or commission published or released on or after July first, two</U></B> 12 <B><U>thousand twenty-six. The data shall be made available to the public in</U></B> 13 <B><U>accordance with state and federal law, except for personal identifying</U></B> 14 <B><U>information, which shall be deemed confidential, by posting the data on</U></B> 15 <B><U>the internet web site of the agency, board, department, or commission on</U></B> 16 <B><U>or before July first, two thousand twenty-six and annually thereafter.</U></B> 17 <B><U>This paragraph shall not be construed to prevent any other state agency</U></B> 18 <B><U>from posting data collected pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivi-</U></B> 19 <B><U>sion on the agency's internet web site, in the manner prescribed by this</U></B> 20 <B><U>subdivision.</U></B> 21 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 22 it shall have become a law. |
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