SB 25-050

Senate Bill 25-050 requires state and local government forms that ask about race or ethnicity to include an option for individuals to identify themselves as Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian. This bill allows these governments to exclude this category if they are required by the federal government to report data in a specific format that does not include these categories, but they must still list it as a subcategory under another racial group. The bill has been signed into law and is now active. This means that forms issued or used by state and local governments will need to offer this new identification option unless there are federal reporting constraints.

Official Summary

The act requires a form issued by the state or a local government that requests that the individual completing the form disclose the individual's race or ethnicity to include, in addition to spaces for any other racial or ethnic categories required by the federal office of management and budget, a space to indicate if the individual's race or ethnicity is Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian. The state and local governments are exempt from the act's requirements if: The demographic data collected in the form is reported by the state or a local government to the federal government; and The federal government rejects or will reject the demographic data reported by the state or a local government because it includes Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian as a primary demographic category. When exercising the exemption, the state and local governments shall include Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian as a demographic subcategory of the nonspecific racial category on the form. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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