An act to amend Section 212.1 of the Education Code, to add Section 8310.2 to the Government Code, to amend Section 2068 of the Penal Code, and to amend Section 2615 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to state agencies.
SB 1387 would expand California’s demographic data collection rules to explicitly treat Jewish identity as part of ethnicity and require multiple state entities to collect and report Jewish ancestry or ethnicity as a separate category. The bill amends the Education Code to state that ethnicity includes Jewish identity, and it adds a Government Code section requiring state agencies that collect ancestry or ethnic-origin data to use a distinct Jewish category in forms and demographic reports. Those reports would have to include the data beginning January 1, 2027, while keeping personally identifying information confidential.
The bill also updates correctional and unemployment-related reporting. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would add “Jewish” to its voluntary self-identification categories for people admitted, in custody, released, or paroled, and continue publishing monthly demographic data on its dashboard. The Employment Development Department would be required to collect Jewish ancestry or ethnicity data from claimants for disability insurance and family temporary disability insurance, alongside existing race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity data, and incorporate that information into its public-facing dashboard and benchmarking requirements.
SB 1387 would change state law in the Education Code, Government Code, Penal Code, and Unemployment Insurance Code by adding Jewish identity as a recognized demographic category for data collection and reporting. It would require affected state agencies to revise forms, tabulations, reports, and online dashboards to capture Jewish ancestry or ethnicity separately, while preserving confidentiality for personally identifying information. The bill also includes legislative findings to support limiting public access to identifying information under the California Constitution.
The available vote history suggests broad support and little visible opposition. The bill advanced out of committee unanimously in recorded votes, including 15-0 and 13-0 votes, and was later placed on the suspense file in Appropriations, indicating fiscal review rather than substantive controversy. No committee transcript is available, so the record shows procedural momentum but not detailed debate.
The main policy issue is not whether demographic data should be collected generally, but whether Jewish identity should be singled out as a separate category across state systems. Supporters appear to view the bill as a way to improve visibility, reporting, and civil-rights-related data collection for Jewish Californians. Potential concerns are likely to center on privacy, the burden of changing agency data systems, and whether creating a distinct Jewish category is necessary or consistent with broader federal race-and-ethnicity standards; the bill responds to privacy concerns by keeping personal identifying information confidential and by limiting small-category reporting in corrections data.