Assembly advances MENA data-disaggregation amendment to state reporting law

The Assembly on the floor advanced and passed a chapter amendment to chapter 657 of the laws of 2024 that requires state agencies to collect more specific data for Middle Eastern and North African communities and to provide compliance progress reports if agencies cannot meet the deadline.

Sponsor Assemblymember Gonzales Rojas described the change as a policy tool to improve representation. "This is about data. This is about policy making, and this is about ensuring that we can best represent the communities that we serve," she said. The amendment adds Jordan and Sudan to the list of named countries and moves the required reporting timeline to Jan. 1, 2027; agencies that cannot comply must file progress reports outlining steps and obstacles.

Members questioned how the state category compares with federal census practice and whether disaggregating MENA identities from the white category would affect eligibility for state programs. One member raised concerns about unintended consequences: "My concern here is that rather than look at ways to get support to more people, we would rather consider people to no longer be of the white category," a lawmaker said, adding worries about how resource allocation might change.

Gonzales Rojas responded that the change is intended to surface historically "invisibilized" populations so policymakers can serve them better; she voted in the affirmative. The Assembly recorded a party vote and the bill passed, Ayes 100, Noes 43.