This report highlights how commerical offices in LA using low road security contractors contribute both to poverty in the city and decreased public safety.

EquityNewOrleans is a citywide initiative of the Office of Mayor Mitch Landrieu funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In partnership with the Foundation for Louisiana, EquityNewOrleans assessed the role of equity in City government using a data-driven process that prioritizes stakeholder engagement. The results inform the development of future strategies and decision-making within City government.

Boston Mayor Walsh's executive order promoting equity in Public Procurement.

Retrofitting the nation's public and institutional buildings for greater energy efficiency, financing these retrofits from the savings achieved, and requiring local-hire and job and advancement standards for those who do the work can provide the widespread high-road job creation needed in today's economy. Publicly controlled buildings are an obvious place to focus for a number of reasons. There are almost 140,000 entities in this sector in the United States, including state and local governments, school districts, colleges and universities, and medical institutions. We estimate that these entities control about 16.5 billion square feet of floor space and use about 3.87 quadrillion BTU a year, at a cost of about $40.7 billion. The estimated cost of upgrading this building stock is between $38.3 billion and $61.2 billion. Such upgrades would save approximately $8.1 billion dollars per year and create between 164,690 and 428,400 FTE. We discuss the financial structures that can be used, the barriers to doing this work, and the policies needed to overcome these barriers and create high-road jobs.

Local governments can advance energy-efficient technologies and practices in the marketplace by promoting energy efficiency in their own everyday operations, a practice commonly known as "Leading by Example" (LBE). Taking actions to improve the energy efficiency of government-owned and -leased facilities and fleets can accrue multiple benefits for both the government and the people it serves. Energy can account for as much as 10% of a typical local government's annual operating budget. As local governments attempt to act with heightened levels of austerity, implementing cost-effective energy efficiency processes and technologies is a proven solution to reduce unneeded spending.

U.S. Department of Energy fact sheet guide to Energy Savings Performance Contracting for governments.

Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti's executive order promoting equity in Public Procurement.

Businesses owned by people of color create jobs and build wealth in communities of color. Yet despite rapid growth of entrepreneurship among people of color and women of color in particular - these businesses face significant barriers to growth and success. Government spending on construction, goods, and services is a potential opportunity to advance economic inclusion, but municipalities often under-contract with businesses owned by people of color. In Shelby County, TN, for example, only 6 percent of county contracts went to Black-owned companies, despite the fact that the county itself is 53 percent Black, and Memphis, the largest city in the county, has the second highest rate in the country of Black-owned businesses, at 56 percent. The reasons why local governments have so often failed to provide fair contracting opportunities to businesses owned by people of color are many, ranging from outright corruption and nepotism with companies that are politically connected, to banal bureaucratic processes that smaller, understaffed, and overworked businesses do not have the time or ability to navigate; the vast majority of businesses owned by people of color are small businesses.

Economic recovery is not returning to all communities equally: the unemployment rate for White workers is down to nearly 4 percent nationally, while the unemployment rate for Black workers is more than double that. This disparity in employment is not an anomaly of our current economy, but has been the persistent reality for people of color for decades. Repeated studies show that job seekers of color are far less likely to be hired than their White counterparts, even when equally qualified.

This report provides a detailed economic impact of the Los Angeles Living Wage ordinace.