Bill Text: NJ A4870 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires modernization of all State blanks, forms, documents, and applications to incorporate new standards for collection of information about sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-14 - Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee [A4870 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4870-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires modernization of all State blanks, forms, documents, and applications to incorporate new standards for collection of information about sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning State forms and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, on or after the effective date of this section, all blanks, forms, documents, and applications furnished to the public for official business by every State department, commission, committee, council, or agency shall be modernized to incorporate new standards for the collection of information about an individual's sex, gender, and sexual orientation, as follows:
(1) Information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation shall only be collected when such information is vitally necessary for the health and wellbeing of the individuals seeking the service;
(2) The collection of information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation for the purposes of statistical research or study shall be optional, and shall be clearly marked as such on each blank, form, document, or application, in order to inform each individual filer that services will not be withheld if the filer chooses not to provide such information;
(3) Any questions relating to sex, gender, or sexual orientation shall be posed in a manner that is sensitive to the individual, and that does not infringe upon or threaten the individual's mental and physical wellbeing; shall allow for non-binary designations; and shall be consistent with relevant best practices, as recognized by Garden State Equality and other relevant organizations that engage in advocacy on behalf of the State's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) communities; and
(4) The authority to grant or refuse the disclosure of information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation shall remain with the individual, or with the individual's parent or guardian, if the individual is a minor under the age of 18. No third party actor, including, but not limited to, a health care provider or a State employee or partner, shall have the agency to grant or refuse the disclosure of such information.
b. If the State is required by a federal agency or other federal initiative to collect and report information related to an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation, the State department, commission, committee, council, or agency responsible for collecting and reporting that information shall include, within its program rules, documentation verifying the applicable federal requirements before it will be authorized to include any questions related to sex, gender, or sexual orientation on the forms, blanks, documents, or applications that it uses to comply with those federal requirements.
c. The Secretary of State shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except that the Secretary of State may take anticipatory administrative action, in advance of the effective date, as necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require all blanks, forms, documents, and applications furnished to the public for official business by every State department, commission, committee, council, or agency to be modernized to incorporate new standards for the collection of information about an individual's sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
The bill would provide, in particular, that: 1) information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation may only be collected when such information is vitally necessary for the health and wellbeing of the individuals seeking the service; 2) the collection of information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation for the purposes of statistical research or study is to be optional, and is to be clearly marked as such on each blank, form, document, or application, in order to inform each individual filer that services will not be withheld in the case that the filer chooses not to provide such information; 3) any questions relating to sex, gender, or sexual orientation are to be posed in a manner that is sensitive to the individual, and that does not infringe upon or threaten the individual's mental and physical wellbeing; are to allow for non-binary designations; and are to be consistent with relevant best practices, as recognized by Garden State Equality and other relevant organizations that engage in advocacy on behalf of the State's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) communities; and 4) the authority to grant or refuse the disclosure of information about an individual's sex, gender, or sexual orientation is to remain with the individual, or with the individual's parent or guardian, if the individual is a minor under the age of 18, and no third party actor, including, but not limited to, a health care provider or a State employee or partner, will have the ability to grant or refuse the disclosure of such information.
The bill would further provide that, in cases where the State is required by a federal agency or other federal initiative to collect and report information related to a person's sex, gender, or sexual orientation, the State department, commission, committee, council, or agency responsible for collecting and reporting that information will be required to include, within its program rules, documentation verifying the applicable federal requirements before it will be authorized to include any questions related to sex, gender, or sexual orientation on the forms, blanks, documents, or applications that it uses to comply with those federal requirements.
Most, if not all, State blanks, forms, documents, and applications currently use outmoded means of collecting information about sex and gender. Specifically, they often conflate the meanings of sex and gender, unnecessarily require the collection of information related to sex, gender, and sexual orientation, and do not allow individuals who exist outside of the historical male/female binary system to accurately document their gender identity and biological sex. This is inconsistent with recent changes made to New Jersey birth certificates, which now allow for documentation of biological sex outside of a historical male/female binary system. By requiring all State forms and other documents to reflect a more modernized methodology for the collection of information on sex, gender, and sexual orientation, the State can better prevent unnecessary psychological harm and medical risk to New Jersey's transgender, transsexual, and intersexual communities.
