The ALANA Brain Trust submitted the following petition to key Minnesota Leaders, following our legal intervention during the Redistricting process for adequate representation of the $1.4 Trillion ALANA economy, referred to as the Corrie Plaintiffs plan. If you would like to add your name to this petition please send an email to alana@alanabraintrust.org or contact any of the petitioners below.
Honorable Ranking Minority Leader, Rep. L. Demuth,
Honorable Senate Majority Leader K. Dziedzic,
Honorable Ranking Minority Leader, Sen. M. Johnson
Honorable Lt. Gov. P. Flanagan
We, a diverse group of leaders from the ALANA (African Latino Asian and Native American) communities, petition Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic to establish sustained long term investment funds that focus on wealth building tools and resources to address large racial disparities in income, wealth and skills and earnings in Minnesota. We respectfully ask that you work directly with members of the POCI Caucus to move closer to parity in equitable distribution of short and long-term investments and policies capturing all Minnesotans.
This petition follows the legal intervenor filed on behalf of ALANA communities ensuring their equal and equitable representation and voice in Minnesota’s most recent redistricting process. The basis for the intervenor was also argued before the Judicial Panel on Redistricting asking for adequate political representation (Corrie plaintiffs vs Steve Simon, 2021). Both the legal intervenor and this letter focuses on two critical areas that must change in Minnesota – legislative districts need to better reflect the growing diversity in Minnesota, and the gap in equitable and adequate representation of economic interests of ALANA communities who contribute $1.4 trillion to the state’s economy must be addressed.
According to estimates from the Minnesota Tax Incidence Study 2021, ALANA communities contributed $5 billion in state taxes and have also contributed to our current budget surplus. In addition, approximately 500,000 ALANA workers continue to meet the critical workforce needs across Minnesota’s various sectors of the economy. An economic simulation using the IMPLAN model estimates that these workers help produce an estimated $198 billion in goods and services and support over a million jobs and help generate $24 billion in taxes.
As we write this petition, we are concerned that demographic data is not publicly available on the Minnesota House and Senate district pages during a critical moment in Minnesota history where our elected representatives are appropriating and allocating historic sums of money. There is an urgent need for transparency on the source of the demographic data or which is being used for decision-making. Reliable data is the heart of equal and equitable political representation, and we urge the government to ensure ready availability of district demographic information, especially as the ALANA economy is a growing and dynamic part of the Minnesota economy.
We believe you currently have the power and political ability to ensure that ALANA communities present and long term economic and policy priorities are equitably reflected in both the Governor’s proposed budget, and in the legislative body’s spending proposals. Here is why:
- 52 percent of the Senate Districts (35 senators) and 51 percent of the House Districts (69 Representatives) are in districts that have at least 20 percent ALANA constituents.
- The House and Senate both have the necessary votes to pass any proposed legislation that ensures ALANA economic and political interests are equitably represented. (See https://bit.ly/ALANAPower).
- ALANA communities, comprising 20 percent of the population, collectively supported the election of Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Speaker Melissa Hortman (with 48 percent of district ALANA) and Senate Majority Leader Dziedzic (with 37 percent of district ALANA).
- There is power at the table to implement these recommendations: For example, from the 6 districts (Districts 67, 38, 65, 59, 66, 62 and 44) with the largest ALANA economies of over $1 billion, there are 11 Committee Chairs combined in both the House and Senate – who chair the following committees: House- Jobs (Chair Xiong), Economic Development (Chair Hassan), Taxes(Chair Gomez), Capital Investment (Chair Lee), Legacy (Chair Lillie), Labor and Industry (Chair Nelson) and Human Services Policy, (Chair Fischer)); Senate- Jobs and Economic Development (Chair Campion), Environment and Legacy (Chair Hawj), Capital Investment (Chair Pappas) and Higher Education, (Chair Fateh)).
We recommend the establishment of the following funds for the next ten years as a revenue fund of the state. These funds will be located within DEED and governed by a community governing board representing the diverse ALANA communities of Minnesota. Priority be given to economically and socially disadvantaged ALANA community members.
ALANA Workforce Fund – $100 million to establish an ALANA Workforce Fund with a specific focus on African American, African Immigrant, Asian, Latino and Native American workforce for development of skills needed to address critical labor shortages in Minnesota and replacing growing numbers of retiring workers.
ALANA Real Estate Development Fund – $300 million allocated over 10 years and focused on real estate requirements of communities impacted by racial covenants in Minnesota. The strategy is to focus on:
- increasing capacity for emerging developers with a focus on smaller projects under $3-$5 million,
- offering capital access at critical stages of the real estate development cycle such as property acquisition and downpayment assistance,
- increasing predevelopment capacity to equip them to request financing,
- offering construction renovation and bridge loans,
- offering a loan guarantee program to leverage private lending,
- increasing technical capacity of developers and organizations serving developers,
- encouraging culturally infused real estate development, including cultural malls, cultural corridors and cultural businesses on main streets and commercial corridors across Minnesota.
ALANA Cultural Assets and Cultural Destination Fund – $50 million allocated over 10 years to develop, enrich and protect ALANA cultural assets and promote tourism from within Minnesota and outside.
- $20 million for ALANA cultural asset preservation and development.
- $30 million to develop “cultural destinations” helping businesses leveraging cultural assets to create spaces where visitors can enjoy unique cultural experiences.
ALANA Capital fund – $250 million over 10 years providing accessible and flexible capital for different stages of the business life cycle, including alternative finance products and services.
Capacity Development Fund – $50 million over 5 years serving ALANA communities in wealth building and skill development offering 5-year funding for established ALANA nonprofits with a strong track record of outcomes.
- $10 million for organizations with budgets under $1 million.
- $15 million for organizations with budgets over $1 million and less than $5 million.
- $5 million for organizations with budgets over $5 million.
- $20 million towards shared back-office services (such as cooperative finance, human resources, accounting, and evaluation services) for organizations serving ALANA wealth building activities.
Wealth Building Fund – $250 million over 10 years – focused on building wealth in communities excluded in racial covenants in Minnesota, offering tools, services and resources for wealth building, from financial literacy training to business incubators, entrepreneurial co-working spaces.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Bruce Corrie,
Economist & Cultural Entrepreneur
Sucharita S. Mukherjee,
Professor, College of St. Benedict and
Saint John’s University, Saint Joseph, MN
Brett Buckner,
Managing Director, OneMN.org
Vong Thao,
Principal Consultant, Thoj Group
Annastacia Belladonna,
Executive Director, Common Cause MN
Nicole Donoso,
Policy and Democracy Organizer, Voices for Racial Justice
New Supporters
Readus Fletcher
Edward McDonald, East Metro Civic Alliance
Dr. Carol Brash, St. Cloud
Todd Lefko. Elk River
Ellen Shelton
Don Wahlberg
Harlene Hagen
Nancy Olson
Judy Bloom Martinez
Ruth Kreps
Kathy Anerud
Richard Shelton
Melvin Anerud
