Former state representative Akasha Lawrence Spence has been appointed to serve as Senator for Oregon District 8, which stretches from Downtown Portland to Tigard, spanning Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. Former Senator Ginny Burdick left the position earlier this month—in the middle of her four-year term—to join a statewide energy council, leaving the seat open for a short-term appointment. Lawrence Spence was appointed by an unanimous vote Monday from commissioners from Multnomah and Washington counties..
Federal Court Approves Settlement in Case Over Black-Only Relief Fund freebeacon.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freebeacon.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
City Club online forum will address inequities, solutions as pandemic effects vary.
Leaders of BIPOC business groups on Wednesday, Feb. 3, will talk about potential reforms after a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately hammered racial and ethnic minorities.
The hour-long discussion hosted by City Club of Portland, part of a series called State of the Possible, happens online starting at noon.
The pandemic has disproportionately hit BIPOC-owned businesses, according to several studies.
One study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last July concluded that 41 percent of Black-owned businesses in the United States shut down by April, as compared to 17 percent of White-owned businesses, 32 percent of Latinx-owned businesses and 26 percent of Asian-owned businesses.
City Club online forum will address inequities, solutions as pandemic effects vary.
Leaders of BIPOC business groups on Wednesday, Feb. 3, will talk about potential reforms after a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately hammered racial and ethnic minorities.
The hour-long discussion hosted by City Club of Portland, part of a series called State of the Possible, happens online starting at noon.
The pandemic has disproportionately hit BIPOC-owned businesses, according to several studies.
One study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last July concluded that 41 percent of Black-owned businesses in the United States shut down by April, as compared to 17 percent of White-owned businesses, 32 percent of Latinx-owned businesses and 26 percent of Asian-owned businesses.
White and Latino Plaintiffs Stall Oregon COVID Relief Fund Specifically Addressing Needs of Black Families and Businesses, Calling It Discriminatory
Citing a number of historical disparities that have decimated the Black community for centuries, Oregon lawmakers last year took steps in trying to ease the burden on African-Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legislators carved out $62 million in aid for Black families and business owners from the state’s $1.6 billion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act package.
But a pair of federal lawsuits filed last year in the U.S. District Court of Oregon successfully sought injunctions to stop those grant dollars from reaching their intended targets, calling the relief fund unconstitutional and biased.