AND JUST LIKE THAT THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION AT THE STATE CAPITOL IS COMING TO ITS END.

THE LAST FEW MONTHS INCLUDED A MIX OF MILESTONES FOR ALBANY LEADERS - FROM THE EVENTFUL BUDGET PROCESS TO TACKLING CONTROVERSIAL POLICY ISSUES.

AS WE'VE DISCUSSED HERE ON THE SHOW, ONE OF THE YEAR'S BIGGEST HIGHLIGHTS WAS HOUSING - FOR EXAMPLE.

AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT LAST YEAR, THE GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE APPROVED A PLAN THAT MEANT IMPROVING AFFORDABILITY IN NEW YORK CITY AND IMPOSE TENANT PROTECTIONS ACROSS THE STATE.

BUT - LIKE ANY OTHER YEAR - THERE ARE STILL POLICY ITEMS THAT ARE LEFT ON THE TABLE.

AS LAWMAKERS HEAD TO THEIR DISTRICTS FOR THE SUMMER, THEY WILL STILL CONTINUE TO TRY TO GET SUPPORT FOR THEIR BILLS.

ONE SUCH LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY WOULD DIS-AGGREGATE DATA ON MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN NEW YORKERS FROM BEING LOOPED IN WITH THOSE OF EUROPEAN DESCENT.

WE SAT DOWN WITH ONE OF THE SPONSORS OF THE BILL - ASSEMBLY MEMBER JESSICA GONZALEZ-ROJAS, A QUEENS DEMOCRAT, TO DISCUSS THE BILL'S FUTURE.

HERE'S THAT CONVERSATION.

[MUSIC] THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY, ASSEMBLYMEMBER.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

NOW, YOU SPONSORED A BILL IN THE ASSEMBLY THAT WOULD ESSENTIALLY PREVENT DATA FROM MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTHERN AFRICAN NEW YORKERS FROM BEING INCLUDED IN DATA NEW YORKERS OF EUROPEAN DESCENT.

CAN YOU UNPACK WHY THAT IS IMPORTANT AND THE IMPACT OF THAT BILL?

ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CENSUS, PEOPLE OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN DESCENT ARE CONSIDERED UNDER THE WHITE CATEGORY.

AS YOU MAY KNOW, THERE'S TWO QUESTIONS ON THE CENSUS RELATED TO RACE AND ETHNICITY.

THE FIRST ONE IS ARE YOU LATINO, HISPANIC OR SPANISH?

AND YOU COULD CHECK YES OR NO, AND THEN THE NEXT QUESTION IS WHAT'S YOUR RACE.

AND THEN IN 2020, IT ALLOWED YOU TO DEFINE YOUR RACE BY YOUR ORIGIN.

SO YOU HAVE TO CLICK OFF WHATEVER RACE YOU IDENTIFY WITH AND THEN PUT YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.

THEY SPECIFIED IN THAT QUESTION, AS AN EXAMPLE THEY SAID GERMAN, ITALIAN, IRISH, LEBANESE, EGYPTIAN.

SO IT WAS VERY CLEAR THAT MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN PEOPLE WERE CONSIDERED AMONGST THE WHITE RACE.

NOW, THE PROBLEM IS THAT SO MUCH OF OUR WORK IS DRIVEN BY CENSUS DATA.

AND WHEN YOU LUMP A COMMUNITY LIKE THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY IN THE WHITE DATA, IT DOESN'T TELL THE FULL STORY.

SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IN MY DISTRICT, I WENT FROM A DISTRICT THAT WAS 11% WHITE BEFORE REDISTRICTING, BECAUSE IT WAS VERY LATINO AND VERY SOUTH ASIAN, TO A DISTRICT THAT WAS 27% WHITE.

NOW, I GAIN LITTLE EGYPT.

AND I KNOW THAT THE 27% WHITE IN MY NEW DISTRICT IS COMPROMISED -- IS COMPRISED MOSTLY OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITIES.

SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO DISAGGREGATE THAT DATA AND ENSURE THAT AS POLICYMAKERS, AS RESEARCHERS, AS PEOPLE MAKING DECISIONS, WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE BETTER INFORMED DECISIONS WITH THAT DATA.

SO WHAT MY BILL WOULD DO IS REQUIRE EVERY STATE AGENCY, COMMISSION OR BOARD THAT ISSUES DEMOGRAPHIC DATA TO DISAGGREGATE THE WHITE CATEGORY TO PULL OUT THE PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ESTIMATE OF HOW MUCH THIS MIGHT POTENTIALLY COST THE STATE?

I DON'T BELIEVE IT WILL COST THE STATE VERY MUCH.

IT'S VERY MUCH INSPIRED BY A BILL PASSED IN 2021 BY ASSEMBLYWOMAN NIOU THAT REQUIRES STATE AGENCIES TO DISAGGREGATE THE ASIAN DATA.

WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FILIPINO AND A KOREAN AND A BENGALI MIGHT BE VERY DIFFERENT BETWEEN LANGUAGE NEEDS, CULTURAL NEEDS, RELIGIOUS NEEDS, AND HAVING ONE ASIAN CATEGORY DIDN'T TELL THE FULL STORY.

SO THEY PASSED THAT BILL.

IT'S BEEN SIGNED INTO LAW.

THERE'S SOME FUNDING THAT'S ALLOCATED TO DO THAT IN THE VARIED AGENCIES.

ESSENTIALLY BUILDS UPON THAT SO WE DON'T IMAGINE A FISCAL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SINCE THEY'RE ALREADY DISAGGREGATING DATA ALREADY.

THIS APPEARS TO ME TO BE SORT OF AN INTUITIVE MEASURE.

WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S TAKEN SO LONG FOR THE STATE TO POTENTIALLY ACT ON THIS?

THANKFULLY THIS BILL CAME FROM THE COMMUNITY.

ME GAINING THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY IN ASTORIA, QUEENS HAS BEEN AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE TO BUILD, AND LEARN AND HEAR WHAT THE NEEDS ARE, AND WE INTRODUCED THIS BILL LAST YEAR, AND THANKFULLY, WITH SENATOR GIANARIS CARRYING IT IN THE SENATE HE WAS ABLE TO GET IT PASSED.

WE OVERLAP IN OUR DISTRICTS AND AGAIN HE REPRESENTS LITTLE EGYPT AND A LARGE COMMUNITY THAT IS MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN AS DO I.

AND HE WAS ABLE TO GET IT DONE.

WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO GETTING IT DONE.

IT'S NOW ON THE FLOOR OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY.

WE'RE VERY HOPEFUL.

SO IT'S REALLY ABOUT BUILDING THE MOMENTUM THAT HAS COME FROM THE COMMUNITY.

THEY'VE COME UP HERE.

MANY OF MY COMMUNITY MEMBERS, TO ADVOCATE FOR THIS BILL, AND THERE'S A WHOLE NATIONAL EFFORT, IN FACT, TO BETTER RECOGNIZE THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY IN THE U.S. CENSUS BUT UNTIL 2030 THAT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE.

SO WE HAVE THE DATA NOW.

WE CAN PULL OUT THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITIES AND BETTER ASSESS THEIR NEEDS AND BE BETTER LEGISLATORS FOR THAT.

AND AS YOU MENTIONED, THE BILL HAS PASSED IN THE SENATE BUT IT'S CURRENTLY IN COMMITTEE IN THE ASSEMBLY.

SO WHAT ARE YOUR CONVERSATIONS LIKE WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES IN THE ASSEMBLY AND WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY TO GARNER SUPPORT IN THE FINAL DAYS OF SESSION?

YEAH, WE WERE ABLE TO GET IT OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.

WE WERE ABLE TO GET IT OUT OF WAYS AND MEANS.

IT IS NOW ON THE FLOOR.

IT'S BEEN LAID ASIDE BECAUSE I BELIEVE THERE'S SOME REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION TO IT.

BUT I'M VERY ANXIOUS TO DEBATE IT AND EXCITED TO DEBATE IT.

IT'S A VERY WORTHY CAUSE.

I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS ISSUE FOR MANY YEARS BECAUSE OF MY OBSESSION WITH CENSUS DATA, IN PARTICULAR.

BUT THERE'S BEEN A NATIONAL EFFORT TO REALLY LOOK AT WAYS TO BETTER COUNT A COMMUNITY.

IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THESE NUMBERS MEAN, YOU THINK ABOUT REDISTRICTING, WE THINK ABOUT MINORITY AND BUSINESS-OWNED PROGRAMS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR AND WOMEN, THAT THEY'RE NOT GETTING ACCESS TO.

WE THINK ABOUT DATA AROUND HEALTH INEQUITIES.

WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE NOT COUNTED AMONGST THE POPULATION.

SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THIS INFORMATION TO DO BETTER POLICYMAKING.

WHAT ARE YOUR CONVERSATIONS LIKE WITH THE CONSTITUENTS IN YOUR DISTRICT ABOUT THIS BILL?

IT'S BEEN AMAZING.

WE DID A BIG LAUNCH EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH SENATOR GIANARIS, WITH ASSEMBLYMEMBERS MAMDANI AND WE HAD SO MANY MEMBERS OF THE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY, WHETHER THEY'RE EGYPTIAN, MOROCCAN, ALGERIAN OR YEMENI.

A LOT OF LEADERS CAME OUT TO PUSH FOR THIS BILL.

WE TALKED ABOUT HOW VIBRANT LITTLE EGYPT IS IN ASTORIA, YET THESE BUSINESSES ARE NOT GETTING THE RESOURCES THEY NEED.

THESE COMMUNITIES ARE NOT GETTING COUNTED IN WAYS THAT THEY SHOULD, AND AGAIN WE'RE MISSING OUT ON A WHOLE SLEW OF DATA THAT CAN HELP INFORM WAYS THAT WE CAN MAKE BETTER POLICY DECISIONS.

I ALWAYS SAY DATA IS POWER.

AND THIS IS ONE WAY TO REALLY ENSURE THAT THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY HAS A NUMBER AND THE RESOURCES TO FIGHT FOR THE ISSUES THAT THEY NEED AND THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR THEM.

AND YOU MENTIONED THE PREVIOUS BILL THAT DISAGGREGATED ASIAN AMERICAN DATA.

SO IS THIS BILL STRUCTURED IN THE SAME WAY, OR ARE THERE ANY MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO BILLS?

THEY'RE VERY SIMILAR.

THEY'RE VERY SIMILAR.

IT WOULD REQUIRE ANY STATE AGENCY, BOARD, COMMISSION, THAT ISSUES DEMOGRAPHIC DATA TO DISAGGREGATE BY, IN THIS CASE, THE ASIAN POPULATION.

AGAIN, SO YOU'RE SEEING WHO'S KOREAN AND WHO IS FILIPINO AND WHO IS BENGALI AND SO ON, SO FORTH.

AND THIS ONE WOULD SAY, OKAY, YOU HAVE THIS WHITE CATEGORY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CONSIDER THEMSELVES MIDDLE EASTERN, NORTH AFRICAN AND THAT INCLUDES EVERYTHING FROM EGYPTIAN, TO MOROCCAN, TO ALGERIAN TO YEMENESE, TO MANY OF THE COUNTRIES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICA.

SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO DO THAT.

AND IT'S REALLY MODELED BY THE SAME PIECE OF LEGISLATION.

AND IF ALL GOES WELL AND THE BILL IS PASSED, WHAT ARE SOME OTHER WAYS THAT YOU'RE HOPING TO BETTER SUPPORT THIS COMMUNITY?

WELL, THE FIRST THING IS TO GET IT PASSED.

WE HOPE TO CELEBRATE WHEN IT'S SIGNED INTO LAW.

AND THEN WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY PRESSURE AND MAKE SURE THAT THE AGENCIES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ACTUALLY DO THEIR JOB AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE FOLLOWING UP ON THAT REQUIREMENT.

IT WILL GO INTO EFFECT IN 2025.

SO IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME BECAUSE WE WANT TO GIVE THESE AGENCIES TIME TO START, YOU KNOW, DISAGGREGATING THAT DATA AND CREATING PUBLIC MEANS OF SHARING THAT.

BUT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE TO THAT.

WILL THERE BE ANY BENCHMARKS OR GUARDRAILS THAT ARE PUT IN PLACE TO HELP THESE AGENCIES THAT DISAGGREGATE THE DATA OR DO THEY HAVE FULL REIN TO APPROACH IT ANY WAY THEY SEE FIT?

IT'S VERY CLEAR IN THE BILL THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN THAT ARE INCLUDED WITHIN THE MIDDLE EASTERN NORTH AFRICAN POPULATION.

AGAIN, WE'RE WATCHING THE WAY IN WHICH THE AAPI BILL IS BEING EXECUTED.

IT'S IN VERY EARLY STAGES SO WE'RE SEEING HOW THAT'S GOING.

SO THAT'S SORT OF SOME OF THE BENCHMARKS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.

BUT IT IS VERY CLEAR WHO IS CONSIDERED MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN BY THE LANGUAGE IN THE BILL.

NOW THAT WE'RE IN THE FINAL DAYS OF SESSION, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR HEADING INTO THE SUMMER AND PREPARING FOR THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION EARLY NEXT YEAR?

THERE'S A COUPLE OF BILLS WE'RE TRYING TO GET THROUGH OVER THE FINISH LINE.

ONE, THE MENA BILL IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN DATA BILL AND WE'RE LOOKING AT MANAGED LONG-TERM CARE PROGRAMS AND A BILL THAT WOULD ENSURE TRANSPARENCY OF THE DATA.

AND AGAIN DATA IS POWER.

I HAVE MANY BILLS THAT LOOK AT WAYS THAT DATA IS SHARED BY THE STATE TO THE PUBLIC.

WE'RE ALSO PUSHING FOR A BILL THAT WOULD CREATE A COVID-19 COMMISSION THAT IS A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION THAT INCLUDES EXPERTS IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH FIELD TO DO AN ASSESSMENT IN THE WAY IN WHICH THE STATE OF NEW YORK HANDLED THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ORDER TO GATHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO SEE HOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.

AND, OF COURSE, I'VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR COVERAGE FOR ALL, WHICH IS A BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO SUBMIT A FEDERAL WAIVER TO USE FEDERAL DOLLARS TO ALLOW PEOPLE WHO ARE UNDOCUMENTED IN NEW YORK ENROLL IN OUR NEW YORK STATE ESSENTIAL HEALTH PLAN.

IT WILL SAVE THE STATE MONEY.

IT WILL CREATE BETTER OUTCOMES FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

WE WERE ABLE TO GET IT PASSED IN THE STATE SENATE TWICE, THANKS TO MY AMAZING SENATOR, SENATOR RIVERA.

BUT IT'S STILL BEEN DIFFICULT TO MOVE IN THE ASSEMBLY, AND WE NEED THE GOVERNOR'S SUPPORT AS WELL BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO PASS A BILL AND HAVE THE GOVERNOR VETO IT.

WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE PASS A BILL SO WE CAN ENSURE THAT OUR COMMUNITIES ARE GETTING ACCESS TO THE HEALTHCARE THAT THEY NEED.

AGAIN, IT'S FISCALLY SMART BUT IT'S ALSO JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

SO WE'RE STILL IN THAT PUSH AND WE REALLY HOPE TO GET IT OVER THE FINISH LINE BY THE END OF SESSION.

IF NOT, REALLY QUEUE US UP FOR EARLY NEXT YEAR.

WELL, CERTAINLY A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

BUT WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE YOU BACK ON THE SHOW.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

WE WERE SPEAKING WITH ASSEMBLYMEMBER JESSICA GONZALEZ-ROJAS, A QUEENS DEMOCRAT.

THANK YOU.

[MUSIC] FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BILL THAT WOULD DISAGGREGATE MENA DATA ON OUR WEBSITE, THAT'S AT NYNOW.ORG.