Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 254
CHAPTER 199
Relative to asset acquisition disparity.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
September 20, 2004.
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LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 254, Firebaugh.
Asset acquisition disparity.
This measure would conclude that research indicates that asset acquisition disparity is largely based on differences in access to education and that targeted research is needed. This measure would resolve that the Milken Institute, the Earned Assets Resource Network, the Latino Legislative Caucus, and the Hispanic Republican Caucus have agreed to jointly engage in the research and to report to the Governor and Legislature by January 15, 2005.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, The California Research Bureau has published a series of reports on the increasing income, wealth, and other disparities between Latino and non-Latino, and educated and less educated workers in California that suggest the need for a coherent statewide approach to the problems that arise from these disparities; and
WHEREAS, The California Research Bureau, in its report titled “Latinos and Economic Development in California (1999),” identifies public infrastructure and the development of a well-trained labor force as two key elements to promote broad-based economic growth in California. The report emphasizes the educational disparity between Latinos and other workers as a serious impediment to California’s economic prosperity. This report also finds that if Latinos in the California workforce were to reach educational parity with non-Latino workers, the state would annually observe a $28 billion increase in earnings and receive an additional $1.7 billion in state income tax revenue; and
WHEREAS, The California Research Bureau, in its report titled “A Coordinated Approach to Raising the Socio-Economic Status of Latinos in California (2000),” identifies 11 policy areas of help to address the disparities between the Latino and non-Latino workforce. The key areas identified are the following: Pre-Kindergarten Access, K–12 Performance, College and University Performance, the Digital Divide, Business Development, Employment and Training, Community Redevelopment, Pensions and Retirement, Media and Culture, Health Care, and Safe Neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, The California Research Bureau, in its report titled “Less Educated Workers in California: A Statistical Abstract (2000)” finds that one in five adult workers (2.5 million workers) in California are “less educated workers,” defined as workers who are 19 years of age or older without a high school diploma; and
WHEREAS, The California Research Bureau, in its report titled “The Distribution of Wealth in California, 2003,” outlines the household wealth disparity between whites and other ethnic groups in California. It analyzes the level of wealth for all Californians, including the state’s children, workers, and elderly, and finds that 60 percent of Latinos and 71 percent of African-Americans have less than $50,000 in asset wealth compared to 35 percent of Caucasians. To increase the opportunity for low- and moderate-income families to acquire assets, the report recommends the development of policies and programs that support asset building strategies, such as college education and business ownership; and
WHEREAS, The Asset Policy Initiative of California, a project of Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN), in its report “Asset Building Framework (2003)” cites the fact that California has one of the highest rates of asset poverty in the country, ranking 47th among all states, and that nearly one-third of all California households have insufficient net worth to subsist at the federal poverty level beyond three months if their income were disrupted; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California has concluded that the findings of the aforementioned body of research indicate that the asset gap in California is largely based on differences in access to education, which provides the numerous and exceedingly complex tools for wealth creation in California; and be it further
Resolved, That targeted research is needed to more accurately measure the economic impact of asset poverty on California’s economy in order to estimate the financial benefits to the state of sustaining and creating asset building policies targeting low- and moderate-income families, and to make recommendations on policy priorities designed to lead California toward wealth creation for all Californians; and be it further
Resolved, That the Milken Institute and other research institutions, in partnership with the Earned Assets Resource Network, the Latino Legislative Caucus, and the Hispanic Republican Caucus, have agreed to jointly engage in this research; and be it further
Resolved, That the Milken Institute, in collaboration with its research partners, is encouraged to report the results of the joint research and resulting recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by January 15, 2005; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.