There will be more people of color in Minnesota’s future, a fact that bodes well for realizing a more robust economy in the state. Minnesota’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model, commissioned by the state’s philanthropies, makes clear that realizing the potential of Minnesota’s growing diversity requires adopting an equity strategy that would grow new jobs and businesses while bolstering long-term competitiveness. Equity is an economic imperative that means fair and just inclusion for all into a society where every Minnesotan can participate and prosper.

Minnesota’s Tomorrow: Equity Is the Superior Growth Model summary available.

This fact sheet was created in partnership with the Raise the Roof Coalition to support their work in Contra Costa County to advance policies that protect renters at risk of eviction during the COVID-19 emergency. Key findings include:

• 14,000 Contra Costa County households – including 12,100 children – are at imminent risk of eviction and homelessness if the county's eviction moratorium is lifted because they include one or more workers who’ve lost their jobs and have no replacement income.
• An additional 8,700 households could be at risk of eviction once the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program ends on July 31.

See the accompanying analysis and methodology. 

Learn more about the campaign at www.facebook.com/raisetheroofconcord/. 

As wages have stagnated for the majority of workers in the U.S. and inequality has skyrocketed, racial inequity has grown. In Biloxi, Mississippi, these inequities are deep, leaving many Black and Latinx households facing racial and geographic barriers to economic opportunity. The coastal community of East Biloxi has the potential to address some of these inequities through investment in the federal Opportunity Zone program. However, this will only happen if there is an intentional focus on lifting up the most vulnerable communities. Download the brief to learn more about the federal Opportunity Zone program and how it can be leveraged to benefit low-income residents and people of color.  

In recent years a national discussion has been underway about the causes and effects of growing inequality, but one cause that has received little attention is the role of the U.S. tax code. The individual tax code contains more than $1 trillion in tax subsidies known to policymakers and economists as tax expenditures because, like spending programs, they provide financial assistance to support specific activities or groups of people. Of these subsidies, more than half a trillion, $540 billion, support some form of savings or investment (e.g., higher education, retirement, homeownership).

In theory, tax code–based public subsidies should help all families save and invest, but instead, wealthier households receive most of the benefits. In fact, a recent analysis of the largest wealth- building tax subsidies found that the top 1 percent of households received more benefits from these tax code–based subsidies than the bottom 80 percent combined.

The new brief answers key questions about tax expenditures: What are they, how do they work, and who benefits? In addition, since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not collect tax data by race, the primer uses data related to the distribution of benefits by income quintiles and the demographics of each quintile to provide a rough approximation of how different racial and ethnic groups do or do not benefit from the different categories of tax expenditures.

Houston-Galveston is characterized by overall economic strength and resilience, but wide racial gaps in income, health, and opportunity coupled with declining wages, a shrinking middle class, and rising inequality place the region’s economic success and future at risk. Our analysis showed the region already stands to gain a great deal from addressing racial inequities. If racial gaps in income had been closed in 2012, the regional economy would have been $243.3 billion stronger: a 54 percent increase. You can also download the summary and addendum.

Find other equity profiles here.

With a median household income of $110,292, Fairfax County, Virginia is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation—but not all residents share in this economic prosperity. As its population has grown and diversified over the past 25 years, inequities in income and opportunity by race and geography have also increased. Given that communities of color are expected to increase from 45 to 72 percent of the population by 2040, taking concrete steps to create pathways for the communities being left behind to connect to education and good jobs is critical for the county’s economic future. This study was produced in partnership with the County and other local leaders to support their efforts to build a stronger and more equitable county. Download the profile.

 

Find other equity profiles here.

Anchor institutions, such as colleges and universities, hospitals and health-care facilities, utilities, faith-based organizations and museums have a role to play in driving economic growth. This brief is an introduction to developing and implementing an anchor strategy that can advance equity and economic inclusion in order to promote regional prosperity. It provides actionable recommendations for federal Economic Resilience and Sustainable Communities grantees and their broad range of regional partners.

With the third-highest level of working poverty in the country, many New Mexican families are already struggling to make ends meet, and predatory financial services further strip their wealth and exacerbate financial insecurity. The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP) is working to protect low-income communities from predatory lenders and tax preparation services. PolicyLink, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California, and NMCLP, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, co-produced two fact sheets: one highlighting the impact of predatory lenders on Native American communities, and one describing how expensive tax preparation services cost New Mexican families up to $54 million in 2015. These tools will support NMCLP’s policy campaigns to regulate predatory financial services and protect working families. Download Ensuring New Mexicans Receive Their Full Tax Refund and New Mexicans Deserve Fair Loans.

Like much of California, Orange County experienced demographic change ahead of national shifts and will continue to do so through at least 2050. Today about 58 percent are residents of color; however racial and economic inequalities persist, threatening future prosperity countywide. This profile examines demographic trends and indicators of equitable growth, highlighting strengths and areas of vulnerability in relation to the goal of building a strong, resilient economy. It was developed by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) to support Orange County funders, advocacy groups, elected officials, planners, business leaders, and others working to build a stronger and more equitable region. Read the profile and summary, and see the press release.

North Carolina has the second largest rural population in the country, with one in three residents living in rural areas. Rural North Carolinians face higher levels of unemployment and poverty than their urban counterparts, and earn lower incomes. Changing this situation and achieving employment equity — when everyone who wants to work has access to a job that pays family-supporting wages and the lack of a good job cannot be predicted by race, gender, or geography — is crucial to the economic future of not only rural North Carolina, but that of the entire state. This is the fourth of five briefs about employment equity in southern states produced by the National Equity Atlas partnership with the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This report was released in partnership with Rural Forward NC and the NC Budget & Tax Center. Download the report, detailed methodology, and fact sheet.