“Indigenous people are often lumped into a category that we don’t recognize, for example as Latinx,” says Pedro. “If we don’t have the data, our human rights are violated.”
The panel was at the summit to discuss SB435, a bill that was recently vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom but would have required two California government agencies—the CalFresh program, within the California Department of Social Services, and the California Department of Public Health— to collect specific demographic and health data on Latino and Indigenous groups on an anonymous basis. After a year of lobbying by LCHC and other health equity advocates, the future of SB435 is uncertain, but LCHC staff say they will continue to try to build on last year’s momentum to push for health equity for Latinos and Native Mesoamericans in California.
