The California Legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 1387, placing the state on the verge of becoming the first in the nation to formally recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity alongside its religious classification in state law on Monday.
During the final hours of the legislative session, the Assembly overwhelmingly passed the measure with a 62-0 vote, followed shortly by the Senate concurring on a 38-0 vote. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, where it awaits a signature or veto ahead of the September 30 deadline.
Authored by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Sherman Oaks) and sponsored by the advocacy group Jewish California, SB 1387 requires state agencies collecting demographic data on ancestry or ethnic origin to include a separate category for Jewish identity.
Proponents emphasize that the shift will ensure Jewish Californians are accurately represented in state datasets tracking hate crimes, public health metrics, and educational outcomes.
Advocates point to data from the Pew Research Center’s 2020 study of American Jews, which revealed that 52% of respondents view ancestry as essential to their Jewish identity and 55% point to culture, while only 36% define it purely through religion.
California's data collection historically hasn't reflected its multifaceted identity
Despite this multifaceted identity, California’s institutional data collection systems have historically lacked a mechanism to reflect it.
“SB 1387 makes sure that we are seen and included when the state counts ethnic communities, a national first,” said David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California. “Good data makes good policy, and this bill means hate crime reports, health surveys, and education data will finally reflect who we actually are.”
Bocarsly also credited Stern’s leadership, the backing of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, and the coalition of 59 Jewish organizations that championed the legislation.
Under the bill’s provisions, participation will be entirely voluntary for individuals, and the new demographic option will be added without altering or removing existing religious data categories.
Data to remain strictly aggregate to address privacy concerns
To address privacy concerns, the legislation mandates that all published data remain strictly aggregate and explicitly prohibits using the collected information to establish individual registries or for law enforcement and immigration enforcement purposes.
The statutory requirements are scheduled to take effect in January, 2029, with the first formal reports slated for publication beginning January, 2030.
The landmark legislation underscores California’s role in setting potential precedents for state-level demographic accounting.
With SB 1387’s passage, all six bills sponsored by Jewish California during this legislative cycle now sit awaiting final action from Newsom, alongside measures establishing 100-foot safe zones around houses of worship, enhancing K-12 protections against antisemitism, reforming voter guides to exclude hate speech, combating campus disruptions, and securing care for Holocaust survivors.