JEWISH ALLIANCE FOR LAW & SOCIAL ACTION

18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108-2301, 617-227-

3000, www.jalsa.org

February 6, 2018

Hon. Sen. Walter Timilty, Chair

Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
State House, Room 213-B
Boston, MA 02133

Hon. Rep. Jennifer Benson, Chair

Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
State House, Room 22
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Chairman Timilty, Chairwoman Benson, and Honorable Members of the Committee:

The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA) is a membership-based non-profit
organization based in Boston, with many thousands of members and supporters statewide. We
are dedicated to being a strong, progressive, inter-generational voice, inspired by Jewish
teachings and values, for the promotion of civil rights, the preservation of constitutional liberties,
and the passionate pursuit of social, economic, and environmental justice for all people.

JALSA is writing in support of H.3361, An Act Requiring State Agencies to Collect Asian
American Aggregate Data.

This bill would help to identify the needs of underserved communities, increase access to state
resources, and eliminate ethnic disparities in wealth, education, and health. The provisions of this
bill would make it possible to collect data by ethnicity at the state level in order for state agencies
to better meet the needs of the diverse Asian American community. Having this information
would target resources and services to the Asian American communities that need them most,
particularly low-income and immigrant Asian Americans, whose needs are invisible and difficult
to study under the current system of data collection.

This bill has been met with some resistance, and those in opposition have made comparisons to
Nazi Germany’s 1935 Nuremberg Law in their opposition arguments. As Jews, we have deep
compassion for the fear of being singled out and targeted along ethnic lines. That is not what this
bill is doing. It is simply allowing Massachusetts officials the ability to make more strategic
decisions about the allocation of resources to specific populations which need assistance.

We learn from our history that it is especially important to stand with marginalized groups who,
in advocating for the information necessary to combat inequality, are also fighting inaccurate
depictions of their communities. Many Asian Americans are living in poverty and require greater
access to affordable housing, education, health services, and other state resources. Without
disaggregated data, these struggles are overlooked. We urge Massachusetts to recognize the true
diversity of our communities and respond to the unique needs of Asian American and Pacific
Islander ethnic subgroups.

Sincerely,

Cindy Rowe
Executive Director