• Home
  • Who I Am
  • Issues
  • More
    • Home
    • Who I Am
    • Issues
  • Home
  • Who I Am
  • Issues

LAVERNE MCCARTNEY KNIGHTON FOR STATE SENATE DISTRICT 65

LAVERNE MCCARTNEY KNIGHTON FOR STATE SENATE DISTRICT 65LAVERNE MCCARTNEY KNIGHTON FOR STATE SENATE DISTRICT 65LAVERNE MCCARTNEY KNIGHTON FOR STATE SENATE DISTRICT 65

The time is now. For all our voices

The time is now. For all our voicesThe time is now. For all our voicesThe time is now. For all our voices

my policy goals

Public Safety

We have a culture of power without accountability. Black and brown people are targets of over-policing and lethal actions by those sworn to protect our communities.  Lives continue to be cut short by the school to prison pipeline without regard for collateral consequences, too. Change is long overdue. We need solutions, representation and transformation. 

What it looks like–

I want to pass meaningful policy that includes transparency and accountability that will get to the heart of systemic racial inequalities and racist behavior with the goal of undoing generations of systemic racism.

  • Police forces must reflect communities they serve and protect; residency and demographics must be considered
  • Personal relationships and trust are built in communities
  • Transparency and accountability are the norm not the exception

Policy goals:

  • Restructure the POST(Peace Officer Standards Training) board to increase representative public engagement
  • Remove ban on residency requirements
  • Reform on how emergency responders are dispatched 

School Readiness

I am a child of segregated schools. Education is the most reliable path to a good start in life.

What it looks like–

Readiness for kindergarten through college. I am committed to ushering in a new way of thinking in the way we educated our children and young people. Mentorship must be better integrated into our educational systems and a belief that all future generations can and will succeed changes our expectations for the good.

Policy goals:

  • Invest in early learning scholarships and childcare assistance program, to cover costs for delivering high-quality early learning experiences
  • Finance efforts to ensure successful matriculation toward a post-secondary degree and focusing on transitions between year one and two and the fourth-year funding gap
  • Create matching state tax credit for teachers’ classroom supplies with Federal government
  • Increase teacher diversity through better access to and transparency regarding loan forgiveness program

Economic Justice

Black and brown communities need more than a minimum wage paycheck. Communities need investments that create living wage jobs, job training, affordable housing and transportation. Economic and racial justice are connected. We must work to both lift up families and build power. We must commit to solid investments in a community’s ability to thrive financially by dismantling generations of systemic racism in the workplace, businesses, and financial institutions.

What it looks like–

We must empower black and brown workers, immigrants, low-wage earners, and families to build wealth and power in every household, not just the few.

Policy goals:

  • Remove ability for transit providers within the Met Council jurisdiction to opt out of Metro Transit
  • Build our state’s commitment to the Pathways to Prosperity program 
  • Increase funding in state job programs and target the economically marginalized people in our communities
  • Financially commit to black and brown owned small businesses by guaranteeing the same tax incentives, loans, financing, and subsidies that larger businesses are given historically

News Coverage

 Black Women Rising Rally

WCCO Channel 4 - CBS Minnesota

Black Women, activists gather at State Capitol calling for change.

image5

Startribune

They Heard George Floyd Call Out to his  Mother Now These Black Women Are Running For Office.


Prepared and paid for by the Laverne for Senate Committee

647 Fuller Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55104


laverneforsenate@gmail.com

Powered by Anika Bowie LLC