New Report Finds that State Lawmakers Just Average on Issues Facing Communities of Color
For Immediate Release:
Contacts:
Carlos Valverde, Executive Director Colorado Progressive Coalition (720) 530-6422
Art Way, Racial Justice Organizer Colorado Progressive Coalition (720) 579-1265
Press Call: 1 866 838-2057 (please wait for an available operator)
1:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 24th (TODAY)
Please click here to view the report.
New Report Finds that State Lawmakers Just Average on Issues Facing Communities of Color
A new report from the Colorado Progressive Coalition documents the failures of many state lawmakers to invest in policies that benefit all Coloradans. The Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity grades the Governor and Legislature on their leadership and support for proactive legislation to long-standing disparities in health, education, civil rights and other key issues. With the legislature scoring a "C-" and Governor Ritter a "C-", the report reveals a state of racial inequity that a majority of legislators are unwilling to address head on.
"The unwillingness to pursue racial equity has real and lasting effects on all Coloradans," says Art Way, report author and Racial Justice Organizer for the Colorado Progressive Coalition. "True reform must begin with the marginalized and disenfranchised, similar to our country as a whole, people of color constitute a large portion of this underserved demographic in Colorado."
The Report Card evaluates and grades members of the Colorado State Legislature on their responses to 12 pieces of legislation that have the ability to decrease racial disparities within Colorado.
"While racial disparities are pervasive in Colorado, they need not be permanent," says Carlos Valverde, Executive Director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition. "But you can't end racism, if you don't acknowledge its existence. That's why this Report Card is necessary. To raise and address these issues."
The Report Card is broken down into five issue areas: educational equity, economic justice, health equity, civil rights, and criminal justice. Each section provides an overview of racial disparities, a description of key legislation advanced in the last legislative session, and a summary of grades for the House of Representatives, Senate, and Governor.
The Press Call will include a full review of the report from its authors and comments from community leaders for social justice and reform. Ben Hanna, lead organizer for Colorado ACORN will touch upon disparate racial impacts within Colorado's housing industry. Christie Donner, Executive Director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition will lead a discussion on recent advances in criminal justice legislation that will inevitable benefit people of color. Also, Tammy Johnson, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Applied Research Center, a national racial justice think tank and home for media and activism, will join us.
Where: Live telephone conference
When: June 24th at 1:00 p.m.
Agenda:
1:00 Call In
1:10 - 1:30 Speakers
1:30 - 2:00 Questions from media
Report Endnotes
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Colorado." 2005.
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ohd/glossary.html
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 NGA Center for Best Practices, "Enrollment Hits the Web: States Maximize Internet Technology in SCHIP and Medicaid." http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/SCHIPTECH053002.pdf
6 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. "Colorado: Uninsured Rates for the Nonelderly by Race/Ethnicity, states." (2006-2007), U.S. (2007) http://www.statehealthfactsonline.org/profileind.jsp?ind=143&cat=3&rgn=7
7 Sharp Silverstein, Jennifer; Hartman, Andrew; Frye, Angela; and Jones, Rich. "Understanding Colorado's Achievement Gap." The Bell Policy Center, August 2005.
8 Rothstein, Richard. "Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap." Economic Policy Institute. Teachers College, Columbia University, 2004.
9 Ibid.
10 Colorado Department of Education. "2007 Colorado Education Facts." http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdereval/download/PDF/EDFacts/2007EdFactSheet...
12 Colorado Department of Education. "2005-2006 Dropout Data." http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdereval/rv2006DropoutLinks.htm
13 Ibid.
14 Colorado Department of Corrections: Statistical Report Fiscal Year 2007 www.doc.state.co.us/Statistics/pdfs/OPAReports/STATReports/2007Complete.pdf
15 Ibid.
16 Denver Police Department: Contact Card Data Analysis 2nd Annual Report http://www.denvergov.org/Police/BiasedPolicingRacialProfiling/tabid/3922...
17 Ibid.
18 HB 09-1266 State Revised Fiscal Impact http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2009a/csl.nsf/billcontainers/606C6622ABEED2E58725753C007AAC0F/$FILE/HB1266_r1.pdf
19 Pew Hispanic Center. "Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Colorado." 2007. http://pewhispanic.org/states/?stateid=CO
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. "Colorado: Poverty Rates by Race/Ethnicity states (2006-2007), U.S. 2007." http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?ind=14&cat=1&rgn=7
23 Ibid.
24 Colorado Center on Law and Public Policy, "March Revenue Projections." 2009. http://www.cclponline.org/pubfiles/RevenueForecast_March2009Final.pdf
24 Pew Charitable Trusts. "Defaulting on The Dream: States Respond to America's Foreclosure Crisis." April 2008. http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Subprime_...
25 Compliance Technologies and Genworth Financial. "2007 Minority Lending Report." October 2007. http://www.areaa.org/cms/2007%20Annual%20Minority%20Lending%20Report.pdf
26 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act." July 30, 2008 http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/safe/smlicact.cfm
27 Colorado Division of Local Affairs: Colorado Division of Housing News-June 2008 News. http://www.dola.state.co.us/cdh_news/news_archive?month=6&year=2008
28 Pew Charitable Trusts. "Defaulting on The Dream: States Respond to America's Foreclosure Crisis." April 2008. http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Subprime_...
29 Ibid.
30 Colorado Pay Equity Commission. "Fulfilling the Promise: Closing the Pay Gap for Women and Minorities in Colorado." March, 2008 http://www.coworkforce.com/PayEquityReport.pdf
31 HB 09-1260, Legislative Declaration. http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2009A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/7B41525D...
32 Center for Policy Entrepreneurship, "Tuition Equity Legislation: Investing in Colorado High School Graduates Through Equal Opportunity to Postsecondary Education." September 2008. http://www.heaacolorado.org/download/HEAA_TuitionEquityReport.pdf
33 Devah Pager, The Mark of a Criminal Record, 108 AM. J. SOC. 937 (2003)