State agencies: collection and reporting of demographic data: Jewish identity

The law makes Jewish identity visible in state demographic data while limiting the data’s use and requiring privacy protections. It also adds Jewish self-identification to Corrections data and disability-benefit program data.

What the law does ​

• Defines Jewish identity as included in ethnicity for public-school equal-rights provisions.
• Requires covered state agencies that collect ancestry or ethnicity data to offer a separate Jewish ancestry or ethnicity category and tabulation, subject to limited federal-funding and preexisting-instrument exceptions.
• Requires covered agencies to include aggregated Jewish demographic data in ancestry or ethnicity reports published on or after January 1, 2030.
• Limits use of the data to demographic analysis, approved research, reporting, disparity identification, and policy or funding decisions; bars its use for registries, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement.
• Requires deidentification, privacy safeguards, and withholding or aggregation of data that could identify people or be statistically unreliable.
• Adds Jewish as a voluntary race or ethnicity self-identification category in Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data and requires the Employment Development Department to collect Jewish ancestry or ethnicity data for disability and paid family leave claimants.

Who it affects ​

• Californians responding to covered state demographic forms, surveys, applications, contracts, grants, or agreements.
• People admitted to, in custody of, released from, or paroled by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
• Claimants for state disability insurance or family temporary disability insurance benefits.
• State agencies, except the California State University and the University of California, that collect ancestry or ethnicity data.

Context ​

The law becomes operative January 1, 2029, and permits limited exceptions for certain existing data instruments, multiyear grants, and documented federal-funding conflicts.