POSITION

RE:  House Bill  (H3361)   “Asian Dis-Aggregation”

The Westford Republican Town Committee has been made aware of pending Massachusetts House Legislation (H3361) entitled the “Asian Dis-Aggregation”  bill.   If passed this bill would require all persons of Asian descent to identify their ethnic origins in more specific detail on all public forms and documents requiring the disclosure of ethnic information in Massachusetts.  Concerns have been particularly heightened because the purpose of this information remains unclear.  History shows that the gratuitous collection of this type of information can easily lead to its abuse and has all too often formed the basis for discrimination.  The Westford Republican Party supports national and state policies that make no distinction among people according to their race or national origin. For this reason, we do not support this bill in its current form.

(This position was adopted by unanimous vote of the WRTC, taken on November 11, 2017.)