THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	811
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 2
		C.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO DEMOGRAPHIC DATA.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders represent 46.5 per cent of the State's population. While Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are often misrepresented as a homogeneous group, they are an extremely diverse group, comprising ethnicities from over thirty different countries. Asian American and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander communities in this State experience diverse social, educational, health, and economic differences that are unique to their respective communities.

The legislature also finds that, due to this diversity, the United States Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, entitled "Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting," separated the "Asian and Pacific Islander" category into two distinct and separate categories, now called "Asians" and "Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders," and these two distinct categories were used in the 2020 United States Census. The United States Census Bureau currently reports data for more than twenty different ethnicities within these two categories.

Despite the federal government's current policy and practice of disaggregating data related to Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, not all of Hawaii's state agencies keep demographic data in a standard or uniform manner that comports with these prevailing federal standards. Moreover, most state agencies do not make collected demographic data accessible to the public so that regional and local governments, elected officials, decision makers, and other stakeholders can use the information to strategically target programs for those most in need.

Given the diversity of languages and cultures, separating data for Asian American and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander ethnic groups is imperative and making this data publicly accessible is critical for enhancing understanding of the needs and experiences of these different communities. Disaggregating race data for collection, analysis and evaluation, access, and dissemination can aid in shaping programs and policies to advance more equitable outcomes for all communities in the State.

In particular, the State has unique trust responsibilities with respect to Native Hawaiians, which are administered by a variety of state agencies, including but not limited to the office of Hawaiian affairs. The uniform collection and sharing of data specific to Native Hawaiians is critical to the proper administration of the State's trust responsibilities and improving the conditions of Native Hawaiians through other similar initiatives.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a task force on twenty-first century data governance to assess current demographic data collection, processing, retention, and sharing procedures used by, needs of, and challenges faced by all state agencies.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a task force on twenty-first century data governance.

(b) The task force shall assess current demographic data collection, processing, retention, and sharing procedures used by, needs of, and challenges faced by all state agencies.

(c) The members of the task force shall include:

(1) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development, or the director's designee;

(2) The chief information officer of the office of enterprise technology services, or the chief information officer's designee;

(3) The chief executive officer of the office of Hawaiian affairs, or the chief executive officer's designee;

(4) The director of the department of health's office of health equity, or the director's designee; and

(5) Other relevant members to be identified by the task force.

(d) The task force shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2024.

(e) The task force shall be dissolved on June 30, 2024.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Department of Health; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Human Services; County Police Departments; Demographic Data; State Agencies; Publication; Ethnicities; Task Force

Description:

Establishes a task force to assess demographic data collection, processing, retention, and sharing procedures, needs, and challenges. Requires a report to the Legislature. (CD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.