The Name Accuracy Act Passes Major Legislative Hurdle

SACRAMENTO, CA – Legislation allowing California residents to include accents, umlauts, tildes and other diacritical marks on vital records, such as birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage licenses, was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee today. 

AB 64, the Name Accuracy Act, authored by Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey), now heads to the Assembly floor for approval. 

"After years of dedicated advocacy and collaboration, I am thrilled to announce that AB 64 has cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee," said Assemblywoman Pacheco. “There is no real justification for stripping people of their cultural heritage, along with the correct spelling and pronunciation of their names. AB 64 aims to restore our rights and the dignity that cultural identity deserves.”

For the past two years, the committee failed to advance previous versions of the same bill, AB 2156 and AB 77. Another version of a similar bill, AB 2528 (Skinner, 2014), also was held in the Assembly Appropriations committee. 

Excluding diacritical marks began a mere 39 years ago with a policy developed by the Department of Health that banned the marks after English was declared the state’s official language, disrespecting the multicultural heritage of California residents. 

Many states, including Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Hawaii, North Carolina, Oregon, Alaska, Utah, Arkansas, Delaware, and Maryland show respect for cultural identity by including diacritical marks on vital records. Assemblywoman Pacheco says that California, as the most populous and diverse state in the nation, should be a leader among the states on that list.

“For 39 years, we've been asking Californians with diacritical marks in their names to accept the misspelling of their names on official records. In some cases, the exclusion of a diacritical mark even changes the meaning of a name,” said Assemblywoman Pacheco. “Our tremendous state should record the actual names of residents, reflecting parental and individual rights, preserving cultural identity as expressed in names and restoring the historic guarantee of free speech that was eliminated in 1986.” 

To schedule an interview with Assemblywoman Pacheco, contact Alina Evans at alina.evans@asm.ca.gov.