{"id":62091,"date":"2024-01-11T09:22:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T17:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=62091"},"modified":"2024-01-11T09:22:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T17:22:36","slug":"new-report-shows-latinos-aapi-underrepresented-ca-gov-appointees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=62091","title":{"rendered":"New Report Shows Latinos, AAPI Underrepresented CA Gov. Appointees"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Selen Ozturk<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A new report finds that, while Gov. Gavin Newsom has achieved gender parity in his office\u2019s appointments, Latinos and AAPI remain underrepresented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Sacramento<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SACRAMENTO, CA<\/strong> \u2014 A new report finds that, while Gov. Gavin Newsom has achieved gender parity in his office\u2019s appointments, Latinos and AAPI remain underrepresented.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0was released Monday by the nonprofit Hispanas Organised for Political Equality (HOPE), in response to a veto last October of SB702, the third iteration of a bill by Senator Monique Lim\u00f3n (D-19) which would require the Governor to create and publish an annual report on \u201caggregate demographic information\u201d of appointments made to the state\u2019s 420 boards, agencies, commissions and task forces.<\/p>\n

Key findings<\/h2>\n

The report found that \u201cthe rich diversity of California\u2019s population is not reflected in the demographic makeup of board members and commissioners appointed in 2023,\u201d per publicly available self-reported data for 480 candidates appointed from January 2023 through December 15, 2023.<\/p>\n

Non-Hispanic White Californians hold the majority of appointments at 52%. Latinos (17.29%), Black (11.25%), AAPI (8.54%) and Native American Californians (2.29%) collectively make up 39%, with 9% being unknown.<\/p>\n

For comparison, the demographic breakdown of California is 34.7% Non-Hispanic White, 40.3% Hispanic or Latino, 6.5% Black, 16.8% AAPI and 1.7% Native American, according to 2023\u00a0Census<\/a>\u00a0estimates.<\/p>\n

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A breakdown by race and gender of all 480 gubernatorial California appointees between Jan. 2023 and Dec. 15, 2023. (Credit: Hispanas Organised for Political Equality)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

47% of appointments are female and 52% are male with 1% falling under the category of other or unknown.<\/p>\n

The report combines race and gender to show that White men comprise 30% of appointments, White women 22%, Black men 5%, Black women 6%, Latino men 8.5%, Latina women 9%, AAPI men 3.5%, AAPI women 5%, Native American men 1% and Native American women 1%.<\/p>\n

The report also finds that 63% of appointees live in Northern California (41%) and the Bay Area (22%), with Los Angeles County at 15%; the Central Valley, Inland Empire and Greater San Diego area at 5% each; and Orange County and the Central Coast at about 3% each.<\/p>\n

Most appointments are Democrats at 71%, with Republicans at 9%, No Preference at 18% and Other at 2%.<\/p>\n

Precedents<\/h2>\n

Lim\u00f3n said Newsom \u201chas been very intentional about ensuring diversity in his appointments\u201d \u2014 recently\u00a0appointing<\/a>\u00a0the first Latina Supreme Court Justice for California in 2022 and passing\u00a0SB54<\/a>\u00a0in 2023, which requires venture capital firms to make demographic diversity reports on the companies they invest in. \u201cThe goal of reports like these is to replicate his success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t fix what you cannot see,\u201d she added. When Newsom\u2019s term ends in 2027 \u201cwe will have a new governor, and we want to ensure that the gains his administration has seen are gains that can be sustained.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s veto letter for her bill holds that because the demographic information specified in SB702 is self-reported by candidates, a report may not necessarily accurately reflect the diversity of appointees.<\/p>\n

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A breakdown by political affiliation and geographic residence of all 480 gubernatorial California appointees between Jan. 2023 and Dec. 15, 2023. (Credit: Hispanas Organised for Political Equality)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

However, the HOPE report counters that \u201cour state regularly uses self-reported data for many different state agencies for resources like tax credits, disability insurance, and in the appointment of our judicial courts. We believe this report would be more accurately and efficiently produced if it came directly from the Governor\u2019s office,\u201d i.e. if measures like SB702 were more common. This \u201cwould come at nearly no cost to the Administration, given that they already collect this demographic data.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the state level, there\u2019s precedent for such a report. The California Judicial Council, for instance, publishes demographic data relative to gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran and disability status for court justices and judges, and the report in Lim\u00f3n\u2019s proposed bill also includes these metrics.<\/p>\n

Among other states,\u00a0Illinois<\/a>\u00a0under Gov. Pritzker passed a measure similar to SB702 in 2015, and has seen consistently more diverse appointees since.<\/p>\n

This emphasis on transparency is also gaining traction among local governments throughout California.<\/p>\n

In 2023 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted a\u00a0motion<\/a>\u00a0modeled after SB702 requiring the board to publish an annual demographic report of appointments. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors adopted a similar\u00a0measure<\/a>\u00a0in 2021. Karen Bass, mayor of the City of Los Angeles, also aims to create a similar report.<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/h2>\n

HOPE has stated that it will continue tracking appointments in 2024.<\/p>\n

In light of the 2023 report\u2019s findings, Sen. Lim\u00f3n has reintroduced her bill requiring an annual demographic report on gubernatorial appointees, in the form of\u00a0SB782<\/a>, which is set for a hearing on January 11.<\/p>\n

After three past vetoes, \u201cIt will be our fourth attempt on this particular bill,\u201d said Lim\u00f3n. \u201cWhat we have seen over the last four years is that this is not a partisan issue, evidenced by the strong bipartisan support that this bill has received \u2014 particularly in the last year in the legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Californian leadership does not \u201cevaluate our progress, gaps in representation will continue to exist,\u201d she added. \u201cThis report reiterates the need for demographic data to be made publicly available. The work to advance transparency must start in-house.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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