Assembly BillChaptered/SignedGovernment
AB 91: State and local agencies: demographic data.
What AB 91 does, verified December 13, 2025
This bill would require state and local agencies to collect demographic data on major Middle Eastern or North African groups, starting January 1, 2028. The data would be included in every demographic report published on or after January 1, 2029, and would be made available to the public. The bill would also make findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern, affecting all cities, including charter cities. Reimbursement for costs mandated by the state would be made pursuant to existing statutory provisions.
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Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 357, Statutes of 2025. (2025-10-06)Alert me
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| Oct. 06, 2025 | Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 357, Statutes of 2025. |
| Oct. 06, 2025 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep. 24, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. |
| Sep. 12, 2025 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3367.). |
| Sep. 12, 2025 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0.). |
Latest bill textChaptered version, October 6, 2025 · 959 words
Assembly Bill No. 91
CHAPTER 357
An act to add Section 8310.4 to the Government Code, relating to state and local government.
[ Approved by Governor October 06, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 06, 2025. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 91, Harabedian. State and local agencies: demographic data.
Existing law requires state agencies, boards, and commissions that collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian and Pacific Islander group and to include that data in every demographic report published on or after July 1, 2012, as specified.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2028, require state and local agencies, as defined, that collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for major Middle Eastern or North African groups, as specified, and, with certain exceptions, to include that data in every demographic report published on or after January 1, 2029, and to make the aggregated data available to the public.
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.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 8310.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:8310.4.
(a) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Middle Eastern and North African Inclusion Act (MENA Inclusion Act).(b) A state or local agency that directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians shall use the following separate collection categories and tabulations for major Middle Eastern or North African groups in any provided form that offers respondents the option of selecting one or more ethnic or racial designations or languages:
(1) A major Middle Eastern group, including, but not limited to, Afghan, Bahraini, Emirati, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Omani, Palestinian, Qatari, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Turkish, and Yemeni.
(2) A major North African group, including, but not limited to, Algerian, Djiboutian, Egyptian, Libyan, Mauritanian, Moroccan, Somali, Sudanese, and Tunisian.
(3) A major transnational Middle Eastern and North African group, including, but not limited to, Amazigh or Berber, Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Circassian, and Kurdish.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a state or local agency shall do both of the following with the data collected pursuant to subdivision (b):
(1) Include the data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of Californians by the state or local agency that is published on or after January 1, 2029.
(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.
(d) (1) A state or local agency shall not disclose personal identifying information about any person whose demographic data is collected pursuant to this section. The state or local 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 or local agency shall not make data available that would result in statistical unreliability.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Local agency” means a city, county, or city and county, whether general law or chartered.
(2) “Personal identifying information” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55 of the Penal Code.
(3) (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.
(f) This section shall become operative January 1, 2028.
SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which adds Section 8310.4 to the Government Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:In order to protect the privacy of California residents, while also gathering and publicizing useful demographic data, it is necessary that personal identifying information remain confidential.
SEC. 3.
The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act adding Section 8310.4 to the Government Code addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 1 of this act applies to all cities, including charter cities.SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.Text of AB 91 as chaptered, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions