{"id":367503,"date":"2023-10-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?post_type=newspack_nl_cpt&p=367503"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:12:29","slug":"newsom-diversity-reporting","status":"publish","type":"newspack_nl_cpt","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_zh\/newsletter\/newsom-diversity-reporting\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsom requires diversity reporting, but not for himself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gov. Gavin Newsom during a press conference at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Sept. 26, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From CalMatters state Capitol reporter <\/em><\/strong>\u963f\u5217\u514b\u8c22\u00b7\u79d1\u585e\u592b<\/em><\/strong><\/a>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming soon to California: a diversity reporting mandate for venture capital firms. Not coming soon to California: a diversity reporting mandate for Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the bill signing period<\/a> wrapped up earlier this month, Newsom approved a measure that will force venture capital firms operating in California to collect and disclose demographic data about the founders of the companies they invest in \u2014 while on the very same day, he vetoed for the third time a similar transparency requirement for his own gubernatorial appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 54<\/a> by state Sen. \u5357\u5e0c\u00b7\u65af\u91d1\u7eb3<\/a>, a Berkeley Democrat, was among nearly 900 measures that Newsom signed into law<\/a> this year. It represents an effort to boost lagging venture capital investments in businesses founded by women<\/a>, Latino<\/a> \u548c Black<\/a> entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Under the law, venture capital firms must annually survey the founding teams of the companies they invested in during the year for information such as gender identity, race, ethnicity and disability status, as well as whether they are LGBTQ+, military veterans or California residents. Aggregated data, along with how much money was invested in those businesses, will be reported to the state starting March 1, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Venture Capital Association \u53cd\u5bf9\u8be5\u6cd5\u6848<\/a>, arguing it would \u201cproduce misleading and counterproductive data that would hurt the cause of diversity\u201d because founders from diverse backgrounds would be more likely to participate in the voluntary surveys, exaggerating their representation in startup investments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom identified his own issues with \u201cproblematic provisions,\u201d \u201cunrealistic timelines\u201d and the cost to the state of administering the program \u2014 some of which he promised to address in cleanup language in the next budget \u2014 but ultimately signed the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n