Laws
New York Requires the Collection of Disaggregated Data for AANHPI and MENA Communities (All State Agencies).
A 2024 law requires that every state agency, board, department, or commission that directly collects demographic data on the ancestry or ethnic origin of New York State residents use separate categories to allow Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) residents to be disaggregated from white respondents. Assembly Bill A6219B
The law further disaggregates the MENA categories to include:
- Each major North African group, including but not limited to Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, and Libyan;
- Each major Middle Eastern group, including but not limited to Yemeni, Iranian, Palestinian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Israeli, Syrian, Armenian, and Saudi; and
- Other MENA groups, including but not limited to transnational indigenous MENA communities like Amazigh and Syriac people.
The law applies to data released starting December 1, 2025. However, the law does not apply to the Department of Labor, Division of Criminal Justice, the Office of Mental Health, and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance until July 1, 2026.
A 2022 state law requires every state agency, board, department, or commission that directly collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of New York state residents to use separate collection categories and tabulations for the following Asian and Pacific Islander groups:
- Asian groups: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, all of the 10 most populous Asian groups in the most recent five-year American community Survey published by the United States Census Bureau;
- Pacific Islander groups: Native Hawaiian, Guamanian and Chamorro, Samoan;
- OR collection categories shall include a category for other Asian or Pacific Island group.
“The requirements of this section shall not apply to the department of labor, the division of criminal justice services, the office of mental health or the office of temporary and disability assistance until two years after this section shall have become a law” (July 1, 2024). NY EXEC 170-e*2 (S.6639-A/A.6896).
Another law requires the Department of Health to “identify disparities in health care access and quality by aggregating the information collected . . . by population subgroups to include race, ethnicity, gender and age”. HB18 (2012); 4-14A-3 NMSA 1978. However, the law does not define specific subgroups. The Department of Health maintains information about implementation of the law, including a 2021 report.