New York agencies would report ancestry data for five Afro groups

Covered agencies would use separate categories and tabulations for five Afro groups. This applies to New York state agencies, boards, departments, and commissions that collect residents’ ancestry or ethnic origin data directly or by contract. The five groups are descendants of people enslaved in the United States, Continental Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, Central and South American Afro-Latinos, and other Afro groups. The act would take effect 120 days after becoming law.

Covered agencies would include the separate group data in demographic reports and post it on their websites. This applies to demographic reports about New York residents’ ancestry or ethnic origin prepared by the covered agencies. Agencies must make the data public in line with state and federal law. Personal identifying information must remain confidential. The requirements would cover reports released on or after July 1, 2027. Agencies would post the data by that date and each year afterward.