Gov. Inslee Proposes Juneteenth as State Holiday, Announces $365 million Equity Policy Package
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has announced a historic equity policy package for the upcoming 2021 legislative session, which proposes investing $365 million in equity-related decision packages and budget items.
The proposed investments come after a year of increased visibility and exposure of the inequities communities of color have faced for generations including black and immigrant communities in Washington state. The proposals are meant to showcase Washington’s commitment to “not just changing policies affecting these communities but investing in them as well” said the state office.
“I firmly believe Washington will be an anti-racist state, and I will be taking actions that hold our state to that commitment,” Inslee said during a press conference Monday. “We need our policies and budget to reflect our dedication toward disrupting the harmful systemic cycle of racism and inequity.
“We have seen Black, Indigenous, and other people of color disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 because of longstanding racial gaps all of which have as a root cause — racism. Now is the time to implement real change that will have a positive impact on the lives of those most impacted by this crisis.”
Inslee’s legislative and budget proposals would:
Establish Juneteenth as a legal state holiday
Mandate independent investigations of police use-of-force.
Stand up and task the Washington Equity Office.
Continue to fund the Immigrant Relief Fund.
Ban making insurance decisions based on credit scores.
Invest directly in communities of color.
Increase equity in schools and education sectors
increase minority contractors
Invest in environmental justice
Invest to close the digital divide for students
Advance equity on school campuses
Remove barriers and create more equitable access to financial aid
Improve equity for foster and homeless students
Support career development in construction trades
Expand outdoor recreation equity
Create more equitable process for grants
Support community-based organizations that focus on creating equity
Juneteenth
The proposal would also establish Juneteenth as a legal state holiday. Juneteenth, which occurs on June 19th every year, marks the date of the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Celebration of the holiday honors the history and resilience of Black Americans, reminds of past moral failures, draws attention to institutionalized racism, and provides hope for a more equitable future.
Rep. Melanie Morgan, sponsor of the bill that would establish the holiday, said that the move was a step in the right direction toward honoring the history of Black Americans.
“For more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Africans were still held in bondage until the Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that they were free. The legislature intends to designate Juneteenth as a state legal holiday to celebrate the end of chattel slavery. This is a critical and necessary step forward in racial reconciliation,” said Morgan.
Morgan urged solidarity for all Washingtonians.
“Although this day has special significance for Black/African Americans in the state of Washington, the rejoicing of the end of this atrocity should be acknowledged and celebrated by all Washingtonians. Let us continue to fellowship with Black/African Americans; to revisit our solidarity and commitment to antiracism; and continue to lead the way on ensuring that all of our communities live in an equitable, diverse, and inclusive state.”
Increased Accountability for Police Use of Excessive Force
The governor has proposed investing $26 million for the creation of the Office of Independent Investigations to conduct investigations of police use of excessive force. This comes as a recommendation from a task force, created by the governor after the deaths of George Floyd and Manuel Ellis earlier this year.
The majority of task force members held strong views that the state must create a new, independent agency to conduct police use of force investigations. Members also agreed that this office must be rooted in an understanding of the country’s deeply embedded institutional racism, the history of racism in policing, and how bias disproportionately impacts and harms people of color.
The task force told the governor that the new agency must conduct investigations with transparency, accountability, and an anti-racist lens.
Fund and Task the New Equity Office
The proposal allocates $2.5 million from the General State Fund to the state Equity Office, to develop the state’s five-year equity plan to create language access requirements, remove barriers to accessing state services and decrease inequities across state government.
The office will also help agencies develop and implement their own diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. The office will also work to promote systemic and cultural changes, introduce best practices, change management to agencies, and design an online performance dashboard that measures agencies’ progress toward diversity goals.
Any government agency would be able to request the office’s help to reach its DEI goals.
Provide Additional COVID-19 Relief to Immigrants
$10 million from the General State Fund would be used to provide additional economic support to Washington’s immigrant community, which has been heavily affected by the pandemic but can’t access many other relief programs because of their immigration status.
Increase Equity in State Held Contracts and Business
The governor’s budget allocates $1.9 million to increase the number of minority and women-owned businesses that hold state contracts and participate in public spending. This funding will go in part to the Business Diversity Management System, which measures and tracks the state’s progress toward equity in public spending and state contractors, and in part to help the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises finish implementing the system’s final steps
The budget also allocates $221,000 from the general state fund to help OMWB promote equity and create more diverse, innovative, and efficient business solutions for agencies by launching the Washington State Toolkit for Equity in Public Spending to support state agencies and educational institutions.
Increase Equitable Access to Insurance
The governor’s proposal would ban insurance companies from using credit scores to determine their eligibility with Senate Bill 5010, legislation that bans the use of credit scoring in auto, homeowner, renter and boat insurance.
“One of the most common reasons why people struggle financially is from events outside of their control — unemployment, natural disasters and medical expenses. For many, the impact (financial or otherwise) is felt for generations.”
Inslee’s proposal explains the equity issues involved saying “Credit-based insurance scores historically and disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income communities because of inequities embedded in our credit system,”
“The pandemic has hit low-income Washingtonians and communities of color the hardest, and they will bear the repercussions for months and years to come.”
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner would oversee these efforts.
Support Financial Literacy
The proposal allocated $674,000 to The Department of Financial Institutions, which will work with financial education partners and financial institutions to help address racial wealth inequities.
DFI would create a diversity, equity and inclusion staff position dedicated to working with financial institutions; federal, state and local government agencies; and community partners to aid in their efforts. DFI’s efforts would help underserved populations more equitably participate in safe, secure and affordable financial services.
Increase Equity in Education
The largest part of the proposed budget would invest over $132.065 million in advancing equity related to schools and education.
Including $8.4 million to improve equity outcomes for foster and homeless students and $79 million to “address the digital divide in Washington” by creating equitable access to broadband internet for students that cannot afford it. Access to the internet and technology has been a key struggle for many families during the pandemic in an age of digital and zoom learning.
The governor proposes to continue funding the Aim Higher Free Application for Federal Student Aid initiative. Allocating $1.1 million to help families and students get state and federal grants and loans such as FAFSA to help pay for college. This will help families and students connect to state and federal grants and loans, such as the FAFSA, to help pay for college.
The proposal also allocates $3 million to support career development in construction trades.
Increase Environmental Justice and Equity
The governor’s 2021 proposal would begin taking the first step to implement proposals made by the Environmental Justice task force established in 2020 to:
Improve air quality and climate resilience in the most impacted communities by putting a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and supporting project investments that make communities more resilient to climate change impacts.
Ensure that the benefits of the clean energy transition are equitably distributed so that vulnerable populations aren’t left behind.
Give overburdened communities a voice with a formal advisory role in climate governance by creating a permanent Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Panel.
Incorporate environmental justice into environmental and economic development agency staffing and programs, and require that investments in climate change projects, programs and activities undergo an environmental justice analysis.
Source. The proposal would also fund several capital investments.
Read more on the governor's Medium page.
Read the full equity policy brief here.
