SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Sept. 27, 2016) — Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assemblymember Rob Bonta’s (D-18-Oakland) AB 1726 into law on Tuesday.
AB 1726 will direct the Department of Public Health to disaggregate data for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community on or after July 1, 2022. Assemblymember Rob Bonta has also announced that the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) have agreed to voluntarily begin releasing disaggregated data on graduation rates, completion, enrollment and admissions.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – California (Advancing Justice – CA), a partnership of Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus and Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, released the following statement on Tuesday.
“Advancing Justice – CA applauds Governor Jerry Brown for signing this significant legislation which will have a positive impact on the overall health of the AANHPI community in California. AB 1726 will illuminate health disparities within AANHPI communities by requiring the Department of Public Health (DPH) to disaggregate demographic data it collects and reports, such as rates for major diseases, leading causes of death per demographic, subcategories for leading causes of death in California overall, pregnancy rates, or housing numbers. By disaggregating data in DPH, state government officials can make more informed policy decisions on how best to serve our communities.
For example, Advancing Justice’s analysis of Census data found that 14 percent of the Asian American community lacks health insurance — but when we break down that data by ethnic groups, we discover that 8 percent of Japanese Americans are uninsured compared to 27 percent of Korean Americans. This ethnic breakdown of data allows us to identify where to target resources for outreach programs on health care access. By ensuring that vital data sets collected by the California Department of Public Health disaggregate AANHPI ethnic data, AB 1726 will help improve the overall health of our very diverse AANHPI communities.
Additionally, Advancing Justice – CA applauds the announcement by the UC and CSU to start publicly releasing disaggregated data on student access and achievement. With our recent work in the College for All coalition, we have been focused on creating a pipeline of educational opportunity and success for K-12 public school students — especially those who are low income, English learners, or foster youth of all backgrounds — to be better prepared for and graduate from California’s public universities. Access to disaggregated data around AANHPI communities will allow our schools, public servants, and CBOs to examine roadblocks preventing certain communities from educational achievement.
Advancing Justice – CA is proud to stand with a vibrant AANHPI coalition in support of data disaggregation, and we celebrate this step forward to ensuring that all data collected by the State is disaggregated for AANHPI communities.”
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles ( Advancing Justice-LA) is the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). Through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building, Advancing Justice-LA focuses on the most vulnerable members of Asian American and NHPI communities while also building a strong voice for civil rights and social justice.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California (Advancing Justice-CA) is a joint project of Advancing Justice-Los Angeles and Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.
