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Laura Yuen
St. Paul

Black coalition pushes legislative reforms at Capitol

Leaders from Minnesota's black community
Leaders from Minnesota's black community have answered Gov. Mark Dayton's call to assemble a plan tackling economic gaps.
Courtesy of KARE 11

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Updated: 9:20 p.m. | Posted: 6:25 p.m.

A coalition of black leaders in Minnesota is calling for a number of legislative reforms to end the state's enduring racial disparities.

The proposals, which range from changes in drug sentencing to new startup money for black-owned businesses, are aimed at lifting up Minnesota's African-American and African immigrant communities.

Dozens of community leaders who haven't always seen eye to eye in the fight for racial justice united at the state Capitol on Wednesday.

Recent Census data shows household income for blacks in the state fell by 14 percent.

"That was a wake-up call for all of us," said Jeff Hassan, executive director of the African American Leadership Forum, "African-Americans as well as the broader community."

And while community advocates say they're united on these issues of racial equity, the Legislature appears to be anything but.

Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, said he's concerned that Republican leaders in the House have been stalling on hearing various bills aimed at improving the lives of African-Americans.

But Republicans point to their own solution — aimed at solving the educational achievement gap. They've proposed providing tax credits to low-income families so they can help pay for educational expenses, including private school tuition or tutoring and academic programs not provided by local public schools.

"But Democrats have refused to consider it," said Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, in a statement. "If Democrats are willing to seriously address the achievement gap, I will be flexible in considering their spending proposals."

In light of a shorter than usual legislative session, Belton said the coalition is focusing on the economy, criminal justice and helping black immigrants, for the time being.

"Those are the things we are prioritizing for the purposes of this session," he said, "but we will be back in 2017, 2018. This is a start."

Correction: A quote was attributed to the wrong person. The corrected version is above.