Minnesota’s Legislative Black Caucus members say they will encourage Twin Cities area Community Action Programs to reject initial bids for the metro area’s multi-million dollar weatherization initiative because the language in the requests for bids did not mirror language in the authorizing legislation.
The authorizing legislation provides Minnesota over $100 million for weatherization of homes and includes dollars for training people to do the weatherization work. The Bill specifically required contractors to demonstrate inclusivity, meaning sub-contracting with firms owned by women, Blacks, and other people of color. The legislation specified training dollars and outreach marketing targeting underserved and historically excluded populations.
But that language was conspicuously absent from the Request for Bids issued by a consortium of metro area Community Action Programs.
State Representative Jeffrey Hayden, DFL-61B, said Community Action of Minneapolis, which serves Hennepin County, and, Ramsey and Washington County Community Action Partnership need to look at the disconnection between what lawmaker signed into law and what the agencies are actually doing and reject actions that could continue discrimination against and disenfranchisement of people of color and women. Hayden was joined by State Representative Bobby Champion in challenging the reasoning that may have been the basis for omitting the inclusionary language in the Request for Bids.
In a broadcast interview Tuesday on KFAI’s Conversations with Al McFarlane Public Policy Program, the lawmakers said the CAP’s may have been motivated by a sense of expediency, the need the get stimulus dollars into the economy as soon as possible.
“But I maintain we can do both,” Hayden said. “We can expedite getting that money into the community, as Stimulus Initiative is seeking to do, and, we can expedite being inclusive, assuring that the intent of our legislation is top of mind and omnipresent in the execution of the legislation.”
Champion and Hayden said they are negotiating with the CAP’s and the State Office of Energy Resources, which funnels federal dollars to state agencies. They said fixing the problem could mean rejecting bids received thus far and start the bidding process over again.
“This is my first legislative session,” Hayden said, reviewing highlights of his freshman session in the Legislature. “It was tough because of the structural deficit problems. We knew in November it would be $4.8 billion. When we got in session the deficit was estimated to be closer to $6.4 billion, the largest in state history.
Hayden said he supports President Obama’s Stimulus Initiative because “it puts people to work. I like the idea of using government spending to help people. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) puts money in infrastructure and that means putting people to work. Then they can support their families, pay their mortgages and stave off foreclosure, pay their taxes and help revitalize the economy.”
Hayden said In Minnesota alone, weatherization spending will jump from $10 million to $123 million. “Ten times more houses will become energy efficient. That helps save the environment,” he said.
“It reminds me of the Hoover Dam as one of the projects the federal government used to reset a national economy that was mired in the Great Depression. But this is not just one ‘Hoover Dam’ project, but many. In home weatherizations and in retrofitting public buildings across the nation, we are kickstarting a new energy economy that in five to 10 years, will save money and save the environment. That is exciting to me because now we are thinking about the environment. People of color are at the forefront. Traditionally, we have not been perceived as being involved in environmental stewardship, and now we are on the frontlines of the Green Economy. We are talking about jobs, Green Jobs. And as Louis King, HIRE MN has said, the best social service program is a job,” Hayden said.
“Champion and I were in the lead making sure that by statute, by language in the law, the weatherization spending would seek out people of color, women, and people who traditionally have not benefited from public spending contracts. We intended to make sure contractors, sub contractors, and labors should include people of color and women. Historically, they have been left out. They have not had the same opportunity. We know for a fact that Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) for example, has not met minority hiring goals since its inception. We have to be intentional about putting the language in the statue and specific in making sure it gets enforced so that the funds, contracts, jobs, and benefits get all the way down to people in our community,” Hayden said.
“The language we passed did not make it into rfp. My job is to create law and oversight. They put together rfp that did not have inclusionary language. We are in negotiation now to see what that means. This is stimulus money and it needs to get out quickly. We don’t want to get caught out there where the money gets out and people get to work, but we bypass our community and leave out our people. We are talking about this issue with all the stakeholders to figure out how we get it all done. I think the rfp is not acceptable,” he said.
Insightnews.com