"Racial equity" is a term we use intended to describe the act of balancing a system which is otherwise riddled with disparity. Racial equity is understood to be interchangeable with equality. I think a valid distinction is to consider equality as equality of opportunity while equity is equality of outcome. It is important to consider equity as many minority groups do not have access to the opportunity that white Americans enjoy. Since obstacles limit opportunity, outcomes can be very different between two people in pursuit of the same thing. This inequitable system is often due to factors such as language barriers, wealth gaps, and employer bias which can alter the progressions of minority persons’ career development.
Racial equity assessments (REIA) are toolkits used to assess the inequity that exists within a system. REIA can be used to assess school programs, health policy, proposed legislation, etc. REIA is being used more now in places such as Iowa and the District of Columbia during the legislative process. Iowa refers to their REIA as informative. Meaning that they assess for inequity but are not required to address it. The District of Columbia is more proactive in terms of their REIA. They have a full council which is dedicated to racial equity and they have made efforts for programs to address inequity (CORE, 2021). However, there is still no requirement for legislators to make amendments directly to proposed bills when there are inequities found (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2016).
I have two proposed policy options which I believe are most efficient when used together. These policy options address the problem of not using REIA effectively while also considering a reasonable budget and defining who holds responsibility during the process of REIA.
1. The Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the University of New Mexico will be given the responsibility of creating an REIA toolkit. The toolkit can be developed over four semesters and has high administrative feasibility. The toolkit will be pilot tested on 2-3 proposed bills selected at random in the year following the development of the toolkit. This is a 6-semester, or, 3-year contract. The funding for the two semesters of work is predicted to be available through committee members who are afforded money that is usually used for constituent issues but are often used to fund side projects such as this. The funding is recurring. Once the impact of REIA is illustrated and the budgeting for REIA is assessed, it could be easier to ask for more money and for funders to want to spend the money on REIA.
2. Having full responsibility of REIA at the legislative level comes with a cost. A full committee would need to be committed to the task of producing racial impact statements for the 500-1,000 bills proposed depending on the 30 day or 60-day session. According to Jon Courtney of the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), it costs approximately $1.1-$1.3 million to fund his committee of 13 evaluators. The committee would work as a hub of information that reports back to LFC during their process of producing a financial impact report (FIR). The FIR includes other agency reports and weighs the cost and benefits associated with each report. The LFC then makes amendments to proposed bills before it is presented to the legislature. By having someone do the REIA and then reporting back to an already established committee, administrative and political feasibility are predicted to be high. This policy should be implemented in phases to give the community of New Mexico time to assess the costs and benefits of REIA. The first phase is to begin having REIA attached to proposed bills in the same fashion that the FIR is attached. However, at this phase there are no requirements for changes to be made to bills in response to the implications made by REIA. Only a press release is required when REIA implicates high levels of inequity that is not addressed. The first phase should be exercised between 3-5 years. The second phase is then to report back to the LFC as previously mentioned.
It’s important to note that the policy options would work sequentially as the toolkit must first be developed and pilot tested by the MPP before being passed on to a committee. Ideally, the committee would be composed of REIA advocates from different fields while it progresses and gains funding for employing full time members. An obstacle to be addressed is not having that initial funding to get the REIA done. There are many advocates within existing committees. However, it is unknown if they would be willing to redirect their funding to such project. In this case, a toolkit could be adopted from a different state as there are already some made. Although, I do believe it would be worth creating a toolkit specific to New Mexico’s needs as no two states are exactly the same.
References
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