FILED ON: 7/28/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5109

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

_______________

An Act relative to the the collection of demographic data.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to further regulate the collection of demographic data, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Said chapter 6A of the General Laws is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 105.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“Government agency”, any state agency, quasi-state agency, subdivision of a state agency, or board, commission or any other entity created by the commonwealth.

“Personal identifying information”, information: (i) that directly identifies an individual, including name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code; (ii) by which an agency intends to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, which shall include indirect identification which can compile an identity, such as a combination of gender, race, birth date, geographic indicator and other descriptors; or (iii) that permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual.

(b)  Every government agency that collects demographic data as to the race or ethnicity of residents of the commonwealth shall use separate collection and tabulations for the following:

(i)  each major Asian group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including, but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Laotian, Cambodian, Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Nepalese, Burmese, Tibetan and Thai;

    (ii)  each major Pacific Islander group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including, but not limited to, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Fijian and Tongan;

   (iii)  each other Asian or Pacific Islander group;

    (iv)  each major Black or African American group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including, but not limited to, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Cape Verdean and Somali;

(v)  each major Latino group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including, but not limited to, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican and Colombian; and

    (vi)  each major white or Caucasian group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including, but not limited to, German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and French.

(c)  Each government agency shall allow individuals to choose more than 1 group, write in their own group or choose the aggregate category. No government agency shall fill out racial or ethnic information unless directed to do so by the individual.

(d)  Except for personal identifying information, which shall be deemed confidential, each government agency shall make the data available to the public in accordance with state and federal law. This information may be maintained in either paper, electronic or other media form. To prevent identification of individuals, the information may be aggregated into data categories at a state, county, city, census tract or ZIP code level to facilitate comparisons, identify disparities and to be included in studies and reports. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent any other government agency from posting data collected on the agency’s website, in a manner prescribed in this section.

(e)(1)  The secretary of administration and finance shall promulgate regulations and issue guidelines on the collection of demographic data, which shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a standardized form for information collection; (ii) expanding the categories of race or ethnicity; (iii) a standard format for agencies to make data publicly available and to update said data on an annual basis; (iv) a method to ensure no personal identifying information is publicly released; (v) a standardized written disclosure to the individual filling the form out that information collection is voluntary; (vi) procedures to ensure that nonparticipation in information collection shall have no impact on an individual’s eligibility for state services; and (vii) annual cost impact and review of the successfulness of collecting information.

(2)  Annually, there shall be not less than 1 public hearing on the implementation of or changes in the regulations and guidelines.

(3)  Annually, not later than August 1, the secretary of administration and finance shall file a report on the progress of data collection with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight.

(f)  All data collected by government agencies shall be subject to both state and federal privacy laws, including, but not limited to, Title 13 of the United States Code and section 2 of chapter 93H.

SECTION 2.  Not later than January 1, 2023, the secretary of administration and finance shall promulgate regulations for the implementation of section 6.

SECTION 3.  Section 6 shall take effect on January 1, 2024.