Dear neighbors,
Our work to expand employment opportunities for ex-offenders is starting to make a national impact.
Target Corporation recently announced plans to adopt a nationwide Ban the Box policy, which means that job applications will no longer ask an applicant if they have ever been arrested or convicted of a crime.
This is an important step forward towards removing barriers to employment for people with criminal histories who are trying to provide for themselves and their families. And it’s a direct result of brave Minnesotans telling their stories and a broad coalition asking Target to be a leader on this issue.
I was proud to help pass bipartisan legislation this year that bans the box for all private employers in Minnesota, which will help begin closing our state’s worst-in-the-nation racial jobs gap.
Increasing access to good jobs continues to be my top priority.
Over the past several months, I’ve been traveling throughout Minnesota with my colleagues to examine projects that will put people back to work. This week, we focused on key opportunities in our own backyard – like a renovation of Nicollet Mall and construction of the Bottineau LRT line.
These kinds of projects are vital to the economic health of our neighborhoods, our city, and our entire state.
As a member of the Capital Investment Committee responsible for crafting a bonding bill during the 2014 legislative session, I am working hard to make sure we fund these projects so we can bring more jobs to downtown and North Minneapolis.
I’m also committed to raising Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. The current rate of $6.50 per hour ranks the third lowest in the entire nation. Lawmakers last raised our minimum wage in 2005. Since then, we’ve seen the cost of goods like gas and groceries go up. Raising the minimum wage is an important step towards reducing poverty, growing the middle class, and creating broad based, shared prosperity.
If you have any questions about Ban the Box legislation, Minnesota’s minimum wage, or projects that could be included in a bonding bill next year, please feel free to get in touch with me. You can reach me by phone at (651) 296-8659, by email at rep.raymond.dehn@house.mn, or by postal mail at 423 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
You can also get news and updates by following me on Twitter at @raymonddehn or by liking my Facebook page.
Sincerely,
Raymond Dehn
State Representative, District 59B