PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
  1. Signatures
    892 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. California Governor Jerry Brown
  2. Created By
    Asian Pacific American Legal Center
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

We need your help. AB 1088 (Eng), a California bill that would require two state agencies to disaggregate ethnic group data for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, is headed to the desk of Governor Jerry Brown – who has the power to approve or kill the bill.  Help us to make this bill a reality – sign the petition to urge Governor Brown to sign the bill!

Current state law requires state agencies to disaggregate data for major Asian ethnicities, including Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ethnicities, including Native Hawaiian, Samoan, and Guamanian.  AB 1088 would require the Department of Industrial Relations and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, to collect the same ethnic data as the U.S. Census, by adding the following ethnic groups: Bangladeshi, Fijian, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Thai, and Tongan.  In addition, AB 1088 would require data on AA and NHPI ethnic groups to be posted online and easily accessible – currently, that data is nearly impossible to find.

The costs to implement AB 1088 are minimal but the benefits are tremendous – they would give legislators, policy makers, foundations, government agencies and community groups access to critical information to better and more effectively serve Asian American, Native Hawaii, and Pacific Islander communities.

Please join Assemblymember Mike Eng and the bill’s co-sponsors (Asian Pacific American Legal Center, AACRE and APIsCAN) in signing on your support on this change.org petition.  Thank you!

For more information about this bill, read this great article by California Watch here.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Sign AB 1088 to more accurately count Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: California Governor Jerry Brown.

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Sign AB 1088 to more accurately count Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders

I strongly urge the Governor to sign Assembly Bill 1088 (Eng) because it will significantly impact my community or the communities I work with and the people of California as a whole.

This bill will require that two key state agencies – the Department of Industrial Relations and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing -- align with the existing practices of the U.S. Census to collect and disaggregate data by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) ethnic groups. This will result in a more accurate reflection of the size, circumstances, and needs of these complex and fast-growing groups of Californians. Together, AA and NHPI ethnic groups grew by almost 34% since 2000 – but individually, the 20+ AA and NHPI ethnic groups includes significantly diversity on nearly every socio and economic indicator, including poverty and employment rates, educational attainment, health disparities, etc. Because AB 1088 requires these agencies to publicly post the disaggregated demographic data on their websites, policy makers, researchers and community organizers will better understand and thus more effectively serve the evolving needs of California’s diverse population.

Please sign AB 1088 – this bill is critical to ensuring that state and federal data are consistent and that state agencies better understand and serve the diverse populations that they serve.

Signed,

[Your name]

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