Dear Neighbors,
Yesterday I joined with my colleagues from the House and Senate to unveil the “Women of Color Opportunities Act” (WOCOA). WOCOA is five bills aimed at eliminating racial disparities for women and girls of color. The bills are targeted at increasing educational and economic opportunities. This issue of racial disparities stems from many issues and has needed to be addressed for quite some time. I’m glad we’re taking the approach of singling out specific problems to tackle them and introducing comprehensive packages like this one.
Women and girls of color in Minnesota face significant challenges and disparities. The gender wage gap for women of color in particular has had devastating impacts on poverty in Minnesota communities.
Currently, African American women in Minnesota earn $0.62 for every dollar a white male earns, and for Hispanic women that figure is even lower at $0.57 for every dollar a white male earns. A Hispanic woman working full-time stands to lose about $854,000 over the course of her career because of the gender wage gap. Over 64% of Minnesota’s African American female-headed households with young children live in poverty, with 53% of Hispanic female-headed households living in poverty.
The Women of Color Opportunities Act features five main components:
- Academic Success (HF 3031/ SF 2885) - Creates replicable model programs—one for the Twin Cities and one for Greater Minnesota—to help girls of color succeed in school. This approach includes decreasing the school suspension rate for girls of color, increasing on-time high school graduation rates, and encouraging girls of color to pursue postsecondary education.
- Financial Literacy (HF 3032/ SF 2865) - Gives women and girls of color the knowledge and understanding to make reasonable and appropriate personal financial decisions to lay the groundwork for an economically secure future.
- STEM Career Training (HF 3033/ SF 2916) - Funds competitive grants to community-based STEM-affiliated organizations experienced in serving girls of color and to elementary and secondary schools that provide STEM instruction, giving girls of color greater access to high tech careers, and jobs of the future.
- Nontraditional Job Training (HF 3098/ SF 3056) - Funds job-skills training and apprenticeships for women of color in high-wage, high-demand, non-traditional occupations—jobs in skilled trades and STEM.
- Small Business Lending (HF 3099/ SF 2931) – Removes barriers to credit for women of color by funding micro-loans for start-up, expansion, and retention of small businesses that are owned by women of color in who have been underserved. Preference is given to lower income women of color.
We have serious disparity issues in our community and unfortunately, women of color are the disparities within the disparities. I’m encouraged to see the increasing amount of support we have to work on racial disparities. It’s a good sign we can get things done for our community and our state. However, this being an election year, it’s clear that the GOP is only focused on cheap political stunts and helping their wealthy corporate donors rather than doing what’s right and helping people in Minnesota.
I’ll continue to stand up for what’s right and push for changes that will help everyone succeed.
Phyllis