Section 102900.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)  Birth and death certificate-linking studies done by the department in 1974 and repeated in 1984, show unacceptably high rates of error in the completion of death certificate information recording ethnicity for American Indian infants.

(b)  Official vital data on deaths for American Indians in the State of California indicate an implausible death rate equal to one-half of the United States rate for all races and one-quarter of the rate for American Indians in all states.

(c)  Good demographic data on the American Indian people within the state does not exist and the data that does exist is fragmented and difficult to access and compile.

(d)  The lack of accurate vital data on American Indians in California results in a significant loss of federal funds for the provision of health care and promotion services to American Indian people residing in 37 rural counties within the state.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.)