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.