SB1387 - State agencies: collection and reporting of demographic data: Jewish identity.

Amended IN Assembly August 28, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 21, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 13, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1387 Introduced by Senator Stern (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Lowenthal) (Coauthor: Senator Allen) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Berman and Zbur) February 20, 2026 An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 212.1 of the Education Code, to add Section 8310.2 to the Government Code, to amend, repeal, and add Section 2068 of the Penal Code, and to amend, repeal, and add Section 2615 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to state agencies. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1387, as amended, Stern. State agencies: collection and reporting of demographic data: Jewish identity. Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of specified characteristics, including race or ethnicity, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state, and states that the purpose of related existing law is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies. Existing law defines “race or ethnicity” to include ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, and ethnic background. This bill would define ethnicity to include Jewish identity. Existing law specifies certain requirements relative to state agencies, boards, and commissions that directly or by contract collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, including the requirement to use separate collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian group and each major Pacific Islander group, as specified. Existing law requires these state agencies to include the demographic data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of Californians by the state agency published or released on or after July 1, 2012. Existing law further requires these state agencies to make the collected data available to the public pursuant to state and federal law, except for personal identifying information, which existing law deems confidential. This bill would require a state agency that directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use a separate collection category and tabulation for Jewish ancestry or ethnicity, as specified. specified and subject to a certain exception. The bill would require these state agencies to include the demographic data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of Californians by the state agency published on or after January 1, 2030. The bill would further require these state agencies to make the collected data available to the public pursuant to state and federal law. The bill would prohibit state agencies form from disclosing personal identifying information about any person whose demographic data is collected, and would require those agencies to apply de-identification deidentification and privacy protection methods to that data. The bill would limit the purposes for which state agencies can use the demographic data collected under these provisions. The bill would exempt any state agency administering a multi-year multiyear grant program with an established end date that began collecting demographic data prior to January 1, 2029, from being required to include or use the demographic category described above for interim or final reports. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to race or ethnic origin of people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, including, but not limited to, specified races and ethnic origins. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, based on that voluntary self-identification information, to prepare and publish monthly demographic data pertaining to the race or ethnic origin of people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, disaggregated by the same race and ethnicity categories used by the department for the purpose of voluntary self-identification information. Existing law requires the data, except for personally identifying information, which existing law deems confidential, to be publicly available on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s internet website via the Offender Data Points dashboard. This bill would include Jewish among those specified races and ethnic origins for self-identification. Existing law requires the Employment Development Department, in the administration of existing law relating to disability compensation, to collect demographic data for individuals who claim disability benefits or family temporary disability insurance benefits, including race and ethnicity data and sexual orientation and gender identity data, as prescribed. Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to develop and make available online a public-facing dashboard that publishes disaggregated demographic data pertaining to program participation by individuals and is updated on at least a quarterly basis. Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to implement these requirements by July 1, 2026. This bill would require the Employment Development Department to collect data on Jewish ancestry or ethnicity for these purposes in accordance with specified demographic data collection requirements for state agencies added by the bill. This bill would become operative on January 1, 2029. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 212.1 of the Education Code is amended to read: 212.1. (a) “Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, and ethnic background. (b) “Race” is inclusive of traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles. (c) “Protective hairstyles” includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, locs, and twists. (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029.and 2029, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 212.1 is added to the Education Code, to read: 212.1. (a) “Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, and ethnic background. (b) “Race” is inclusive of traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles. (c) “Protective hairstyles” includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, locs, and twists. (d) “Ethnicity” is inclusive of Jewish identity. (e) This section shall become operative January 1, 2029. SEC. 3. Section 8310.2 is added to the Government Code, to read: 8310.2. (a) A state agency that directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians shall use a separate collection category and tabulation for Jewish ancestry or ethnicity in any provided form that offers respondents the option of selecting one or more ethnic or racial designations. (b) Except as specified in subdivision (c), a state agency shall do both of the following with the data collected pursuant to subdivision (a): (1) Include the data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of Californians by the state agency that is published on or after January 1, 2030. (2) Make the aggregated data available to the public in accordance with state and federal law, including, but not limited to, by publishing the data on its internet website. (c) (1) A state agency shall not disclose personal identifying information about any person whose demographic data is collected pursuant to this section. The state agency may, to prevent the identification of individuals, aggregate data categories at a state, county, city, census tract, or ZIP Code level to facilitate comparisons and identify disparities. (2) A state agency shall not make data available that would result in statistical unreliability. (3) (A) Each state agency shall apply de-identification deidentification and privacy protection methods to demographic data collected pursuant to this section, including including, but not limited to to, consistent minimum reporting thresholds across race and ethnicity categories, consistent with applicable federal and state privacy laws, programmatic requirements, and established data governance policies. (B) The state agency may tailor de-identification deidentification methodologies as appropriate to the specific program, dataset, or reporting context, provided that such methodologies reasonably protect against the identification of individuals and maintain compliance with statewide data standards. (C) The state agency may suppress or aggregate categories data when counts fall below established privacy thresholds, using methodologies consistent with federal, statewide, and departmental data governance guidance and program-specific reporting requirements. (D) A state agency that directly or by contract collects demographic data pursuant to this section may use that information only for demographic analysis, conducting approved research, fulfilling reporting requirements, identifying disparities, and guiding policy or funding decisions. All information collected pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes specified in this section and shall not be used for any other purpose, including, but not limited to, the creation of a registry of individuals, for law enforcement, or for immigration enforcement. (d) Any state agency administering a multi-year multiyear grant program with an established end date that began collecting demographic data prior to January 1, 2029, will not be required to include or use the demographic category specified in subdivision (a) for interim or final reports. (e) A state agency may continue to collect and report demographic data in the form that the data was submitted if the data is collected through an application, intake, survey, contract, grant, or agreement that was in effect or authorized for use prior to January 1, 2029, and modifying the demographic categories would require amendment of that application, intake, survey, contract, grant, or agreement. (f) A state agency that collects or reports demographic data in a manner that differs from subdivision (a) pursuant to federal program requirements, if that data is tied to federal funding, shall comply with the requirements of subdivision (a) to the extent the manner data is collected and reported pursuant to subdivision (a) is authorized for use under the federal program. (f) (1) A state agency may deviate from the requirements of subdivision (a) only upon a showing that collecting or reporting demographic data in the manner required by subdivision (a) would result in the loss, denial, reduction, or delay of federal funds to the state agency, or would render the state agency ineligible to receive or continue receiving funds under a federal program. This showing shall be based on a specific federal statute, federal regulation, or written federal agency guidance identified by the state agency. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply, and a state agency shall comply with subdivision (a), with respect to any form, application, survey, contract, grant, or other data collection instrument that does either of the following: (A) Provides respondents with an “other” category, including a write-in or free-text option, for race, ethnicity, or ancestry. (B) Permits a respondent to decline to state, decline to answer, or otherwise decline to provide race, ethnicity, or ancestry information. (3) A state agency relying on paragraph (1) shall, upon request, identify in writing the specific federal statute, regulation, or guidance relied upon and the nature of the funding consequence. (g) For purposes of this section: (1) “Personal identifying information” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55 of the Penal Code. (2) (A) “State agency” means a state agency, office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, or commission. (B) “State agency” does not include the California State University or the University of California. (h) This section shall become operative January 1, 2029. SEC. 4. Section 2068 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 2068. (a) The department shall collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to race or ethnic origin of people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, which shall include, but not be limited to, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Bangladeshi, Black, Cambodian, Chinese, Colombian, Cuban, Fijian, Filipino, Guamanian or Chamorro, Guatemalan, Native Hawaiian, Other Hispanic Not Listed, Hmong, Indian, Indonesian, Jamaican, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Other, Other Asian Not Listed, Other Pacific Islander Not Listed, Pakistani, Puerto Rican, Salvadorian, Samoan, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Thai, Tongan, Unknown, Vietnamese, and White. Based on that voluntary self-identification information, the department shall prepare and publish monthly demographic data pertaining to the race or ethnic origin of people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, disaggregated by the same race and ethnicity categories used by the department for the purpose of voluntary self-identification information. (b) Starting January 1, 2025, the data, except for personally identifying information, which shall be deemed confidential, shall be publicly available on the department’s internet website via the Offender Data Points dashboard. (c) If the population number of any race or ethnicity category is under 50, the department shall only reference, in the published data, those numbers as “fewer than 50” in order to protect personally identifying information. (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 5. Section 2068 is added to the Penal Code, to read: 2068. (a) The department shall collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to race or ethnic origin of people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, which shall include, but not be limited to, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Bangladeshi, Black, Cambodian, Chinese, Colombian, Cuban, Fijian, Filipino, Guamanian or Chamorro, Guatemalan, Native Hawaiian, Other Hispanic Not Listed, Hmong, Indian, Indonesian, Jamaican, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Other, Other Asian Not Listed, Other Pacific Islander Not Listed, Pakistani, Puerto Rican, Salvadorian, Samoan, Sri Lank [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]