Come to the People’s House with Me 

KaYing Yang, Director of Programs and Partnerships

The 2020 Minnesota State Legislative Session will begin February 11, 2020. This will be my third year at the Capitol. I have seen some changes since my first year in 2016. I have also learned a lot about state-level policy work. In my first year, I was mostly working alone, getting to know legislative staffers and introducing CAAL to legislators. There was only one Asian legislator. By 2019, five legislators who are Hmong were elected to the House of Representatives and a handful of legislators of color and Indigenous people brought a warm vitality to the Capitol. Their election also brought changes to the make-up of the legislative staff. I gradually saw more people of color working alongside legislators. I also saw more advocates of color pushing for their bills. I didn’t feel as alone and in fact even built stronger relationships and gained a reputation for being a persistent advocate. 

True to CAAL’s values of lifting up our leaders and harnessing our collective power, many of you came to committee hearings and some even testified for bills that we carried. The rest of you sent emails, hundreds of emails that helped us to protect the All Kids Count Act and also created the $1 million nonprofit infrastructure grant program. 

They call the Capitol the People’s House and we made sure that you were present there. I know that it is not always the friendliest house that’s why I urge you to come with me as much as you have time. We need to occupy that space and make sure that our electeds don’t forget us.  Your presence is powerfully important. So we are ready for 2020!

To advance our community’s priorities in Economics, Education and Immigration we carry out a variety of activities that help us develop collective action to influence policy decisions that impact Asian Americans, engage and mobilize the community to speak for themselves, illuminate research on practices, opportunities, and stories of those who are most impacted by education and economic inequities, and anti-immigration sentiments and work to increase investments to  the community. 

We are gearing up for the 2020 legislative session and have prioritized the following policy areas. Join us at the people’s house to shape policies. For the last three years,  hundreds of you have helped us pass key legislations that continue to benefit many people. Let’s do it again this year!

Education: PreK-12 Policy 

Embed Ethnic Studies in K-12 Curriculm — Urge school districts and legislators to implement policies  to make teaching, classwork, and textbooks more relevant to diverse learners and reflective of students’ cultures and experiences. Ethnic studies programming is how schools can engage and support diverse students. The value of ethnic studies programs can be transformative to a student’s education.

Disaggregate Data — Ensure that the All Kids Count Act passed in 2016 which requires the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to disaggregate student dat, is implemented with fidelity.  Explore opportunities to expand data disaggregation throughout key government agencies.

Increasing Teachers of Color — Support statewide coordinating efforts to increase teachers of color and American Indian teachers (ToCAIT) and  increase resources to support ToCAIT. It is not acceptable that 30% of Minnesota’s students are students of color or of Indigenous descent, whereas only 4% of Minnesota’s teachers are of color.

Economics Policy 

Invest in the Nonprofit Infrastructure Program — Invest in the nonprofit sector, specifically culturally specific organizations; monitor progress of grant program and build on-going support.

Nonprofit Infrastructure Grant Program: Minnesota is home to 7,000 registered nonprofits, with small organizations making up over 70%. The nonprofit sector employs 11.5% of the state’s workforce. Also, about 85% of the state’s nonprofits are engaged in community services that provide support for low-income families. When organizations from communities of color and Indigenous communities are strengthened they will help make Minnesota better.

Economic Indicators that Impact the Wellbeing of Asian Minnesotans — CAAL’s is conducting a research to gather data to dispel generalizations and stereotypes about Asian Minnesotans’ economic situation, and to help re-center the narrative so that challenges around poverty and wealth-building among Asian communities are visible to broader audiences working on economic justice. We believe having richer and more nuanced data will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of different Asian communities that will accelerate the work of advancing equity for all Asian Minnesotans.

• Highlight API poverty, including 2nd generation poverty
• How is our  community addressing  poverty?
• Build intergenerational poverty into intergenerational wealth
• Current economic development programs do not have API specific programs
• Build a positive spin to change the narrative, building wealth not escaping poverty

Immigration Policy:  Safe & Welcoming Communities

Criminal Justice Reform — Invest in the Protection of  Immigrants and Refugees 

Communities of Color and Indigenous Communities face disproportionate rates of convictions and arrests. Lack of information and documentation that is available only after post conviction and arrests can be impactful in federal immigration court. We support policies that create a more just and  fair process for all Asian Minnesotans and other Communities of Color and Indigenous Communities. 

CAAL will support a Post-Conviction Relief (PCR) legislation to provide people wrongfully convicted  justice by allowing a judge to consider the facts of their case and whether they received effective assistance of counsel, and then determine whether they are entitled to a modification. 

Increase Refugee Admissions — This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Refugee Act. The Trump administration has slashed the number of refugees allowed to enter the US by 80%  to 18,000, the lowest since the passage of the Refugee Act in 1980. This administration has also pushed to limit both legal and illegal immigration. Trump issued an Executive Order on Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement that requires  for the first time state and local governments to affirmatively accept refugees before they are allowed to resettle in cities and counties across the nation. Some are calling this a refugee ban because it empowers local government who share this anti-immigrant and anti-refugee values.

CAAL is committed to ensuring that local and state governments accept refugees and vote against  this Executive Order.