May 6, 2021 Lawmakers Present Legislation Aimed To Address Systemic Equity
(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania s Legislative Black Caucus and other lawmakers are proposing several bills to address systemic equity across the state. The group presented the Invest in Systemic Equity Legislative Package yesterday, which includes declaring racism as a public health crisis. One of the bills would establish the Racial Equity Task Force within the Department of Health while another would create the Joint Legislative Equity Committee that would analyze any legislation. Several other bills in the package tackle issues such as implicit bias in health care, maternal mortality and even taking a deeper look into algorithmic technology.
May 6, 2021 Lawmakers Present Legislation Aimed To Address Systemic Equity
(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania s Legislative Black Caucus and other lawmakers are proposing several bills to address systemic equity across the state. The group presented the Invest in Systemic Equity Legislative Package yesterday, which includes declaring racism as a public health crisis. One of the bills would establish the Racial Equity Task Force within the Department of Health while another would create the Joint Legislative Equity Committee that would analyze any legislation. Several other bills in the package tackle issues such as implicit bias in health care, maternal mortality and even taking a deeper look into algorithmic technology.
Updated: 12:00 PM EDT May 5, 2021
Pennsylvania s Legislative Black Caucus and supporting Democratic lawmakers rallied Wednesday to introduce a package of bills aimed at addressing systemic equity across the state with one bill calling for Pennsylvania to declare racism as a public health crisis.
Other bills aim to battle racism in transportation, agriculture, and healthcare with much of the legislation also calling for bias training for employees. The legislative proposals suggest creating a nonpartisan joint legislative committee on equity.
It also calls for the state to tackle the issue of maternal mortality and to take a deeper look into algorithmic technology to ensure steps are taken to eliminate any harmful bias.