Racial Equity Impact Assessments

Our most important job is to figure out whether Council’s law and policy proposals will make progress toward racial equity—or exacerbate racial inequity. To accomplish this task, we conduct Racial Equity Impact Assessments, or REIAs. Explore this page to learn what a REIA is, how to request one, and how we conduct them.

First, let’s review some key definitions:

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

/ˌinstəˈt(y)o͞oSH(ə)n(ə)l/ /ˈrāˌsizəm/
noun

the regular—often invisible and unintentional—production of unequal opportunities and outcomes.
// The District’s deep and persistent racial inequities disparities are evidence of institutional racism.

RACIAL EQUITY

/ˈrāSHəl/ /ˈekwədē/
noun

the elimination of racial disparities.
// When we achieve racial equity, race will no longer predict opportunities, outcomes, or the distribution of resources for District residents—particularly for Black, Indigenous, and persons of color.

What is a Racial Equity Impact Assessment or REIA?

A Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) is a careful and organized examination of how a proposed bill will affect different racial and ethnic groups in the District of Columbia.

A REIA will analyze a bill’s impacts by:

  • highlighting data on current racial inequities,

  • bringing attention to relevant history and racial trauma,

  • touching on related research,

  • exploring a bill’s potential consequences,

  • amplifying the voices of residents of color,

  • examining who was “at the table” during the bill’s development, and

  • sharing potential pros and cons of how the bill will operate in practice.

Each REIA concludes with a statement such as:

This bill will harm the health of the District’s Black residents, Indigenous residents, and other residents of color, who are more likely to experience food insecurity. This increased likelihood is due to several factors, including a relentless denial of wealth building opportunities, occupational segregation, and income discrimination.

This bill will have a negligible impact on the lives of the District’s Black residents, Indigenous residents, and other residents of color.

This bill will likely make progress toward racial equity in the District of Columbia.

What is the purpose of a REIA?

Racial inequity is often unconsciously replicated when racial equity is not consciously addressed. In other words, we will continue to preserve and reinforce racial inequity unless we make a conscious effort to do something different.

A REIA helps Councilmembers, staff, and the community make decisions about bills with a thorough understanding of how a bill will affect the lives of Black residents, Indigenous residents, and other residents of color.

Which Council actions require a REIA? When is a REIA written during a bill’s life cycle?

As of January 2021, a REIA is required for almost every piece of legislation that the Council proposes. REIAs are not required for:

symbolic public space designations, street or alley closures, highway plan amendments, confirmation or appointment resolutions, sense of the Council resolutions, general-obligation bond acts and revenue anticipation notes acts, revenue bond resolutions, interstate compacts, transfers of jurisdiction, resolutions approving or disapproving proposed rules, the local budget act, the budget support act, or the Federal budget request act, and enactment or technical-amendment legislation.

If a measure requires a REIA, the REIA must be ready 24 hours before a Committee marks up a measure. (A measure is a bill or resolution under Council consideration, and “mark up” occurs when the Committee reviewing the bill is ready to vote that bill out of their Committee. )

Who prepares a REIA?

REIAs are prepared by CORE staff.

When and how do I request a REIA?

1. Request a REIA at least ten (10) business days before a scheduled markup. 
Councilmembers or their staff can request a REIA by filling out the REIA Request Form (you must be signed in with your @dccouncil.us email to view the form) at least ten business days before mark up. Council Rules require that a REIA is shared prior to mark up, and we need time to properly conduct the REIA.

In the event of a sequential referral (when a measure is sent to multiple Committees to be considered), a REIA is only required at the last Committee’s markup. This is similar to the Fiscal Impact Statement process of the Office of the Budget Director.

2. The CORE Director will assign REIA requests to the appropriate CORE staff analyst.
CORE staff committee assignments are as follows:

NAMITA MODY
nmody@dccouncil.us

Housing and Executive Administration
Judiciary and Public Safety
Labor and Workforce Development
Committee of the Whole (including Education)
Business and Economic Development
Government Operations and Facilities
Human Services

DANAYA HOUGH
dhough@dccouncil.us

Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs

MILIKA ROBBINS
mrobbins@dccouncil.us

Transportation and the Environment
Health

 3. The CORE staff analyst assigned to your Committee will conduct the REIA.
During the process, they will communicate regularly with your office. Analysts will locate and interpret relevant data, identify potential positive and negative impacts, and propose changes that may lead to more racially equitable outcomes.  

4. The CORE team will deliver the REIA to the Committee before legislation is marked up.
All REIAs will be made publicly available before mark up in our REIA database.

Helpful Notes:

  • Staff may request a REIA as early as they would like during the Committee Print drafting process (when Committee staff incorporates feedback into the introduced measure). When all the feedback is incorporated, this is called the “Committee Print.”

  • A Councilmember can ask CORE to conduct a REIA on any matter related to their Committee(s), as long as the request does not interfere with CORE conducting REIAs for bills scheduled for a vote.

  • Check out CORE’s racial equity tool and resources to incorporate a racial equity lens into the legislation design process.

What happens after I request a REIA?

CORE analysts work on the REIA by following this general process:

First, we study the proposed legislation. To analyze a bill, we must understand it! Is it a new law? Is it amending an existing law? Either way, what is it doing? What is its legislative history—as in, how did the bill get to this point in the process? To answer these questions, we speak to the relevant committee, reference the DC Code, talk to other CORE team members, and even rewrite the bill in plain language.

Next, we apply the REIA methodology by:

  1. Researching the historical context and background of the policy area and legislation

  2. Considering the blind spots and assumptions within the historical research and legislation

  3. Evaluating possible implementation scenarios and how they might affect racial equity differently

  4. Listing the bill’s possible positive and negative effects on racial and social inequities in the District (if any)

  5. Highlighting areas to reduce the possible negative effects of a bill or resolution (if needed)

Finally, we arrive at our conclusion about a bill’s racial equity impact.

What could a REIA conclude about the impact of a bill?

The REIA’s conclusion highlights whether a bill addresses the symptoms of racial inequity, the deeper structures that reinforce racial inequity, or both.

If a bill focuses on a) the symptoms of racial inequity or b) government operations, we will evaluate it through a new angle of the racial equity lens: the “symptoms and government operations” angle. 

What is a symptom of racial inequity?
A “symptom” of racial inequity is a sign of structural racism. For example, the difference in homeownership between Black District residents (35%) and white District residents (49%) is a symptom of racial inequity. The homeownership inequity deeply affects Black residents and is a sign of the structures preserving and reinforcing racial inequity: residential segregation, wealth denial, occupational segregation, and income discrimination (among others). 

What does the term “government operations” mean?
The term “government operations” includes: 

  • bills adjusting how the government delivers daily services (like snow removal),

  • model legislation (a piece of legislation that jurisdictions can borrow from, modify, or adopt fully to align with national best practices), and

  • Proposed Resolutions (special or temporary measures of the Council) eligible for a REIA.  

This angle will measure the impact(s) of a bill on aspects of the lives of Black residents, Indigenous residents, and other residents of color in the District. For example, a symptom-focused bill’s conclusion might read:  

This bill will harm the health of the District’s Black residents, Indigenous residents, and other residents of color, who are more likely to experience food insecurity. This increased likelihood is due to several factors, including a relentless denial of wealth building opportunities, occupational segregation, and income discrimination. 

Symptom-focused bills have little to no impact on the structures that perpetuate racial inequity, which brings us to the second angle.  

The second angle includes bills that focus on structures. Bills in this category address root causes and institutional practices reinforcing structural racism. These bills may propose comprehensive reform, dramatic shifts in resource distribution, or changes across multiple sectors. This scale will measure the impact(s) of a bill on racial equity, or inequity, in the District of Columbia. For example, a conclusion for a bill focusing on structures might read:  

This bill will likely make progress toward racial equity in the District of Columbia through structural change. This bill addresses a root cause of racial inequity by allocating funds to neighborhoods based on historic disinvestment, which was concentrated in the District’s majority Black neighborhoods.  

Who will determine which angle to use for a REIA?

The CORE team will determine the correct angle to apply for each bill. Bills can sometimes have multiple parts, and some parts might focus on symptoms and some might focus on structures. In these cases, we will examine each part using the relevant angle. There may also be instances of a bill or part of a bill falling into both categories. In this case, we will examine the bill/bill part using both angles. 

To read more about our two additional angles and provide feedback, check out our blog post.

A visual summary of the two angles is below.

If a REIA concludes legislation will contribute to racial inequity, can it pass?

Yes. Council Rules say that the Council or Committee can still consider or pass a bill or resolution regardless of a REIA’s findings. In other words, a REIA is not binding.

What does a REIA look like?

Completed REIAs are publicly available in our REIA database.

Header mural painted by Eric B. Ricks as part of DPW's MuralsDC program.