Nguoi Viet, News Report, Posted: Jun 19, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-On a bipartisan vote, the California Assembly has approved the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1088, a measure that will improve the collection and accessibility of demographics data for the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) population across the state and will ensure consistency with current federal Census data collection.

AB 1088, introduced by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) — and sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE), and Asian and Pacific Islanders California Action Network (APIsCAN) — would require four key state agencies to include the full spectrum of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) ethnicities in their data collection, consistent with those groups reported by the U.S. Census.

In addition, those agencies would need to make this information available to the public by posting it on their respective agency website to ensure a level of transparency and accountability.

“Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders represent the fastest-growing ethnigroup in California, increasing near-ly 34 percent since 2000,” Eng said. “Disaggregated data is essential to illustrate the state and welfare of this growing group, so we as policymakers know how well the residents of California are faring in our … state.”

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