LD777 - Status of Racial and Ethnic Populations

(2019)

An Act To Establish the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Populations

Sponsored by Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland)

What is the bill?

As of 2013, the poverty rate for African Americans in Maine was over 50%, which was the highest in the nation, while one third of indigenous Mainers lived in poverty. Up until this year, the state has never attempted to understand why these alarming racial and ethnic disparities exist. LD 777 will establish the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations to examine how state policies affect economic disparities in communities of color and then advocate for policies that address the root causes of the problem.

What happened?

Enacted into law (Passed the Legislature, Signed by the Governor)

Votes