Maine needs L.D. 2: An Act to Require the Inclusion of Racial Impact Statements in the Legislative Process. Racial impact statements will enable our state’s lawmakers to take on institutional and systemic racism in our state.
Recent data released by the Maine Center for Economic Policy clearly show that our state’s economic, health, education and criminal justice systems work better for white Mainers than for Mainers of color. White Mainers experience higher wages, lower rates of incarceration and greater access to health care than other racial groups in our state.
As of June 2020 Maine had the nation’s largest racial disparity in coronavirus cases. Last June 21, the Press Herald reported that Black residents “are contracting COVID-19 at a rate more than 20 times that of white residents.”
We, as a state, can make meaningful changes and address these social injustices and many more. Maine’s current lawmaking rules clearly feed a system of oppression, as our state’s system produces disproportionate outcomes for racial, Indigenous and Maine tribal populations. It is time these injustices in our state come to an end.
Maine clearly is not immune to systemic racism. We can work together to understand it and put an end to it. L.D. 2 will give policymakers the tools they need to consider the impacts that future laws will have on racial, Indigenous and tribal populations. We need to make sure our government mirrors our shared values of equity and justice. I urge our elected officials to vote to pass L.D. 2.
Cheryl Golek
Harpswell
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