AB 295 (Lieu): Support the Diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
According to Census 2000, there are nearly 5 million Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs) residing in California. Currently, APIAs comprise 14% of the state’s population. From 1990 to 2000, the APIA population grew by as much as 52%. In four counties, APIAs are the second largest major ethnic group and the majority of the population in eight cities across California.
While APIAs are often misperceived as a homogeneous group, they are actually comprised of dozens of different cultures, languages, and ethnic groups with a wide range of economic, educational, and social needs. Accurate data is critical in developing effective policies that respond to the needs of California’s residents. Although APIAs overall may appear to be faring better on certain social indicators, only data broken out by individual APIA ethnic groups can truly reveal how each group is faring.
California law currently requires the state collection of disaggregated data for the following APIA ethnic groups: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Laotian, and Cambodian. However, current California law overlooks several of the fastest growing APIA ethnic groups that are already reported on by the US Census. AB 295 will simply align state data collected by certain departments to mirror the APIA ethnic groups reported by the U.S. Census. Thus, state agencies would collect data for additional APIA ethnic groups, including Hmong, Tongan, Thai, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Fijian. The focus of the legislation is on the most critical departments affecting health and human services, employment, and civil rights.
More information on this legislation is provided in the RESOURCES section, at right.