SB 1387 FAQs

Recognizing Jewish identity as an ethnicity in California's law and data systems

The Basics

For California state agencies that already collect data on people's ancestry or ethnicity, SB 1387 requires that "Jewish" be offered as one of the options, and that the resulting numbers be reported publicly in aggregate. In plain terms: if a form asks about your ethnic background, you'll finally be included.

Specifically, the bill:

Adds a new Government Code section requiring agencies that already collect ancestry or ethnic-origin data to include a separate Jewish category and publish the aggregate results;

Clarifies in the Education Code that "ethnicity is inclusive of Jewish identity";

Adds "Jewish" to the voluntary self-identification categories used in state corrections reporting; and

Requires the Employment Development Department to include Jewish ancestry/ethnicity in its disability and paid family leave demographic reporting.
A lot of the concern about this bill is about things it simply does not do. SB 1387 does not:

Create any registry, list, or database of individual Jews;

Require anyone to identify as Jewish – participation is entirely voluntary and self-selected;

Remove or replace Judaism's recognition as a religion;

Create a new protected class or new civil rights cause of action;

Force any agency that doesn't already collect ethnicity data to start doing so;

Touch ethnic studies curriculum, Israel, or any definition of antisemitism.

It adds an option. It removes nothing.
No. Identifying as Jewish – like every other ethnic category – is voluntary and based on self-identification. On most California forms, you can select as many identities as apply to you, or none. No one is ever required to check the box.
The bill requires Jewish identity to be included in state demographic forms published on or after January 1, 2029, as agencies update their systems. This is the same date a 2025 bill that added Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) ethnic data collection uses, so both categories can be added together.
SB 1387 is supported by 58 diverse Jewish organizations, including major Jewish Federations and Jewish Family Service agencies across the state, and national organizations like Simon Wiesenthal Center, American Jewish Committee, and Jewish Council for Public Affairs. See the coalition’s support letter here. It also has support from the California Federation of Teachers, which noted that "good decisions rely on good data."

The bill is opposed by Jewish Voice for Peace, which incorrectly claims its “hidden agenda is to frame Jews as a specific people with ancestral ties to the land of Israel and, thus, conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.”

Why it's Needed

For many Jews, being Jewish is not primarily about religious belief or observance at all. For these Jews, their Jewishness is rooted in shared ancestry, history, language, food, culture, values, community, and peoplehood – the very characteristics that define an ethnicity.

The data bears this out. According to Pew Research Center, a majority of American Jews say religion is not central to being Jewish. 52% point to ancestry and 55% to culture as essential to their Jewish identity, while just 36% cite religion. In fact, 27% describe themselves as Jews of "no religion." They are no less Jewish for it.

When state law and data systems recognize Jews only as a religion, they render the majority of Jewish Californians invisible – it misrepresents who we are and it undercounts us.
Three main problems:

Undercounting and misclassification. Jews who are culturally or ancestrally Jewish but not religiously observant are effectively invisible in data. There are also limitations on collection of religious data, so some agencies – like the California Department of Public Health – cannot collect any data about the Jewish community.

Blind spots in policy. When a community can't be counted accurately, the state can't see its needs – in public health, education, or access to services.

Public misunderstanding. When the state recognizes Jews only as a faith, it reinforces a narrow, monolithic picture of Jewish identity. That flattening fuels the generalizations that can lead to bias.
Aggregate data would help state agencies allocate resources, help researchers study community needs, and help policymakers craft evidence-based policy. For example, Oregon began collecting Jewish ethnicity in its health data in 2024 – an effort led by a Jewish cancer researcher who realized there was almost no data on cancer risk among American Jews. Better data supports research and care for conditions with known prevalence in Jewish populations, such as Tay-Sachs, Gaucher disease, and BRCA-related cancers.
Primarily through education and understanding. When the public sees Jewish identity as multidimensional – a diverse ethnicity, not only a religion – it becomes harder to reduce Jews to a stereotype. Reducing generalizations builds empathy and understanding, and that, over time, reduces bias and discrimination.

The Harder Questions

We understand this fear, and we take it seriously. But SB 1387 creates no registry, list, or database of individual Jewish people. All data is reported only in the aggregate – as numbers and percentages – and personal identifying information is kept confidential under California’s robust privacy laws. This is the same framework already used for every other ethnic and racial category the state collects, including groups currently concerned for their safety in today’s political environment. For those who remain uncomfortable, identifying as Jewish will always be completely voluntary.
Just the opposite. Californians opting in to share their ethnicity can typically select all that apply. In most California forms you can identify as Jewish and as Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, white, or anything else that fits you, and not be forced into a single box. Today, a Jew of color who wants to be counted as both is unable to do so. By adding "Jewish" alongside – not instead of – other categories, the bill lets more of our community finally show up in the data. Recognition reveals our diversity; it doesn't flatten it.
Jewish peoplehood spans enormous internal diversity, and reasonable people debate how to describe it. SB 1387 doesn't try to settle that philosophical question or define who is a Jew. It simply adds "Jewish" as an option in the state's ethnicity data, for anyone who understands their identity that way and chooses to select it. You may also select multiple ethnicities, and including identity markers like Latino or Middle Eastern will paint a more accurate picture of your identity.

As we move towards greater political and legal acceptance of Jewish ethnicity, we look forward to continuing the conversation of specific Jewish ethnic subgroups. But politics is incremental, and this is a critical starting point.
This isn't about singling anyone out. It's about California's ongoing, community-by-community work to make its data more accurate. In recent years, the state has expanded ethnic data collection for Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups, Black subgroups, LGBTQ+ communities, and, most recently, Middle Eastern and North African populations. Each was added on its own. Adding "Jewish" doesn't require naming or excluding any other group, and it takes nothing away from communities that may pursue similar recognition in the future. Many members of other communities already identify both religiously and ethnically (for example, as religiously Muslim and ethnically Arab); those groups are free to seek their own recognition, and some may choose not to.
Then you identify however it feels true to you. The bill sets no test for who is a Jew and imposes no definition. Just as some may not identify as ethnically Jewish, others don’t identify as religiously Jewish. Because it's based entirely on self-identification, it makes room for the full range of Jewish experience without requiring anyone to fit a particular mold.
No. SB 1387 is a bill about California demographic data. It does not mention Israel, does not change any curriculum, and does not alter any definition of antisemitism. "Ethnicity" here refers to shared ancestry, culture, history, and community – not nationality, and not a claim to any country or territory. The bill is about how Californians are counted in California's own data systems, full stop.
Yes, and SB 1387 doesn't change that. The bill isn't about creating new protections; it's about fixing a data gap. California law prohibits discrimination against Jews, but the state still lacks reliable demographic information about Jewish Californians because its data systems generally don't offer a way to identify as Jewish ethnically. Good policy requires good data. This bill helps provide it. (Notably, federal civil-rights enforcement – including a 2010 U.S. Department of Justice determination under the Obama administration – has long recognized that discrimination against Jews can target shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, not just religious practice.)
No. California already recognizes many ethnic, racial, ancestral, and national-origin identities in its data collection. SB 1387 simply gives Jewish Californians who understand their identity through an ethnic or ancestral lens the same opportunity to be counted accurately that other communities already have.

Privacy and Data

The published data is aggregate only – totals, percentages, and trends – and will never list the names of individuals. State agencies can use it to allocate resources, legislators can use it to inform policy, and researchers and the public can use it to better understand community needs. California has robust data privacy laws to ensure that personal identifying information is deemed confidential and is never released.
The bill expressly makes personal identifying information confidential and requires only aggregate public reporting, consistent with California's constitutional right to privacy and the California Public Records Act. Because no individual-level list is created or published, there is no roster of named individuals to hand over. As with all of California’s sensitive demographic data, there are strong implementation safeguards – including suppressing very small counts – to protect against re-identification.

Precedent and Status

Oregon’s health agency began including Jewish identity in its demographic data in 2024, but it is not yet formally adopted into their state laws. If SB 1387 passes, California would become the first state in the nation to recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity in law.
SB 1387 has moved through the Legislature with strong bipartisan support, clearing its Senate committees and the Senate Floor, and the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, and Appropriations Committee. It is next considered on the Assembly Floor – a full vote of the entire Assembly – before heading back to the Senate for one last concurrence vote. Both votes must happen before the end of August in order to send the bill to the Governor's desk.
Fill out this 30-second action alert to write to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and urge them to pass SB 1387.

Senate Bill 1387, authored by Senator Henry Stern and sponsored by Jewish California, ensures that when the state collects ethnicity data, "Jewish" is one of the options people can choose. Below are answers to the questions we hear most often – including the hardest ones.