Center Releases Report on Racial Equity Impact Notes
Provides a road map for legislators to adopt the use of Racial Equity Impact Notes in Minnesota
Public policy is a powerful tool for justice. It drives regional, state and federal investments that impact communities and the economy. When racial equity and economic inclusion are not prioritized and considered with intention in policymaking, the result is often inequitable policies, a loss in economic growth, and harmful impacts to Black, Indigenous, Latino and Asian communities.
“Racial equity impact notes are a proven, common-sense approach to ensure proposed legislation does no harm to communities of color before passed into state law. ”
Since the 2021 legislative session, the Center has advocated for Racial Equity Impact Notes, a policy tool used to ensure consistent analysis, leverage experts from all Minnesota communities, and facilitate informed decision-making through established questions that help inform the extent to which existing and proposed legislative policies and investments will increase or decrease racial disparities and advance economic inclusion, growth, and competitiveness.
The Center listened to legislators in 2021 and assembled a diverse set of stakeholders to identify the challenges and opportunities to conduct the research and relationship building necessary to build a roadmap for policy makers to adopt racial equity impact notes in Minnesota.
This report (below) is the result of work conducted by Keen Independent Research, who we commissioned to study options for the Minnesota Legislature to implement racial equity impact notes for certain bills and economic impacts of proposed bills on Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian Minnesotans.