Equity Impact Statement Act would help lawmakers understand impact of state legislation
Kislak’s bill would create the “Equity Impact Statement Act,” requiring that, “all legislation submitted in the general assembly include an equity impact statement to address what impact the legislation will have on Rhode Island residents based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin.
March 20, 2023, 1:38 pm
By Steve Ahlquist
State Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence) introduced the Equity Impact Statement Act, H5763, on Friday in the House Committee on State Government and Elections. The bill was held for further study.
Kislak’s bill would create the “Equity Impact Statement Act,” requiring that, “all legislation submitted in the general assembly include an equity impact statement to address what impact the legislation will have on Rhode Island residents based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin.” Former State Representative Liana Cassar brought similar legislation to the House last year.
Impact statements can be as short as a couple of lines of text, appended to the bill, explaining the positive or negative impacts passage would have on different populations.
Representative Kislak’s bill is one of a package of legislation being supported by the Equity Impact Campaign, which is seeking to make available more information to the public about the impact of legislation discussed and passed by the General Assembly.
“If we believe in building an inclusive and equitable state, and I really hope and think that we do, we should be acknowledging that our policies in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and more, affect different populations among us differently, often without any intention or meaning behind it,” said Representative Kislak, introducing the bill. She added that an Equity Impact Statement, “creates a way for us to be deliberate in our actions and to pass more equitable legislation for our state. It is so much better for us to have these conversations before we pass legislation than after we do.”
The video:
- 00:00 Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence)
- 06:09 Kelly Nevins, CEO of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
- 10:39 Kristina Contreras Fox – Rhode Island Black Business Association (RIBBA)
- 12:59 Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies, Director of the Economic Progress Institute
- 17:30 Akila Dulin, Associate Professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health, but not speaking on Brown’s behalf
- 20:12 Steve Ahlquist, reporter Uprise RI
- 23:24 Paige Clausius-Parks, executive director of RI KIDS Count
