New York -- CACF is excited to share that the NY State data disaggregation bill (S6639A/A6896A) for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders has once again passed in the NY State Senate and Assembly. We are ever-grateful for the leadership of our champions in the legislature on moving this bill -- Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou and Senator Julia C Salazar -- as well as the APA Task Force and all those who supported this legislation.

The bill requires the collection of more accurate demographic information by State agencies, boards, and commissions, into law. And with a $3 Million NY State budget allocation for the implementation of data disaggregation won earlier this year, we are hopeful that Governor Cuomo will sign this bill into law.

Vanessa Leung and Anita Gundanna, Co-Executive Directors of CACF, said, "Asian American communities across New York State embody much diversity in ethnicity, and also in experiences of poverty, immigration, and in languages, cultures, and histories. For too long, the systemic erasure of the inequities within the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities has resulted in failed policy responses. With the passage of this bill through the Assembly and Senate, we are one step closer to dispelling the model minority myth and providing a better understanding of the real challenges facing New York's fastest growing population. CACF calls on Governor Cuomo to sign this bill into law, and we look forward to partnering with the State in the implementation of this legislation for better and more accurate data collection. Such data is critical to ensuring that Asian American communities across NY State are better understood and provided the resources and services needed to recover and heal from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the recent increase in anti-Asian violence."

CACF, along with our coalition members and partners, has been advocating for data disaggregation in NY State for over a decade. This win was made possible by the collaborative advocacy of a diverse group of CACF’s organizational members and partners who are part of CACF’s Invisible No More Campaign.

Stella Yi, Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health at the Center for the Study of Asian American Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine said, "The exclusion of the Asian American experience reflects a long history of structural racism inherent in political/data systems, the scientific community and societal perceptions that Asian Americans do not experience health disparities – stereotypes perpetuated by the model minority, and fueled by xenophobic perceptions of Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners. This systematic lack of data reinforces the continued mismatch between the health research literature and the growing diversity of the U.S. – and ultimately impacts the overall health of all communities."

Simona Kwon, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health at the Center for the Study of Asian American Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine said, "We applaud New York State for their leadership in recognizing this issue, and in promoting innovation and transformational change to addressing these historic and entrenched inequities in data collection systems."

Wayne Ho, President and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) said, “CPC is grateful that the State Senate and Assembly have once again passed a bill that would provide critical racial and ethnic data on New York’s growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. As we learned throughout the pandemic, having accurate data is integral to addressing the health, economic, and safety needs of the State’s fastest growing community. We look forward to working with the Governor after the bill is signed to ensure that the State collects and utilizes disaggregated data on the AAPI community to reallocate resources and services.”

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