Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan came to the Rondo Neighborhood this past Monday (March 11) to tout the administration\u2019s new budget; one they say is built on equity, equality and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the governor, $75 million of the 2020-2021 fiscal year\u2019s $1.544 billion budget is earmarked for equity, diversity and inclusion, but some critics say the plan lacks specificity; especially when it comes to spending with the state\u2019s largest ethnic minority group, Blacks\/African-Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a six-page \u201cBudget for One Minnesota\u201d the governor outlined plans for diversity spending, but noticeably missing from the proposed budget spending are the words \u201cBlack\u201d or \u201cAfrican-American.\u201d In fact, the plan presented to nearly 70 people at the at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul only mentions one ethnic minority in specificity, the long-overlooked and severely underrepresented indigenous population. Seven specific points of the six-page \u201cBudget for One Minnesota\u201d are indigenous specific. The rest of the document lumps all other ethnic groups together under the \u201cpeople of color\u201d umbrella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When pressed on specifics Walz said Black Minnesotan can see immediate representation in his appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe state needs to be reflective of the community. I\u2019m proud of the diversity of my cabinet, Metropolitan Council and the judicial board (Commission on Judicial Selection),\u201d said Walz. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud of this budget. We want to make sure equity and inclusion is in every decision we make; hiring \u2026 contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Commission on Judicial Selection has 13 people of color as Walz\u2019 appointees; two African-Americans, Sheree Curry, an at large member, and Sharon Van Leer, a Tenth Judicial District memberand three African born members, attorney Maya Sheikh-Salah, Second Judicial District, Hudda Ibrahim, Seventh Judicial District and Dr. Adenuga Atewologun, Third Judicial District. In total, Walz appointed 26 people to the commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while the diversity on the Commission on Judicial Selection is commendable, one area leader says those appointments \u2026 and Monday\u2019s community meeting \u2026 amount to mere window dressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose (judicial selection appointments) don\u2019t have a salary attached to them. They don\u2019t have the ability to spend money within the community,\u201d said Tyrone Terrell, president of the African-American Leadership Council of St. Paul. \u201cCommissioners (such as the heads of Education, Transportation, DEED, Human Rights, etc.) have the budgets; they decide where to spend the money and under (former governor) Mark Dayton we had three Black commissioners, now we only have two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under Dayton the commissioners of DEED, Human Rights and Education were African-American. Under Walz the only African-American commissioners are Alice Roberts-Davis, commissioner of Administration and John Harrington, commissioner of Public Safety. Terrell said commissioners spend millions annually and Black businesses receive pennies on the dollar compared to what is spent with white businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terrell was invited to the March 11 meeting with Walz and Flanagan but declined the invitation. He said thus far, the governor\u2019s words have not been equaled in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cComing to Hallie Q. Brown is nice, but you\u2019re leaving there with no jobs and no contracts,\u201d said Terrell. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop being happy with just a meeting. I\u2019m hopeful the governor\u2019s words will be matched with action, but so far instead of a \u2018Budget for One Minnesota\u2019 I see the same old Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan came to the Rondo Neighborhood this past Monday (March 11) to tout the administration\u2019s new budget; one they say is built on equity, equality and inclusion. According to the governor, $75 million of the 2020-2021 fiscal year\u2019s $1.544 billion budget is earmarked for equity, diversity and inclusion, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29,2331,169],"class_list":["post-3546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-minnesota","tag-peggy-flanagan","tag-tim-walz","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3547,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions\/3547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}