National Black Caucus of State Legislators

The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (also known as the NBCSL) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to state legislatures in the United States of America and its territories.

Background

NBCSL was founded in 1977 after a group of about eighteen African American state legislators, attending the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures and perceiving that the NCSL was still "racially exclusive" at that time, decided to call for a national conference in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] About ninety African American state legislators attended. The first president was Michigan state representative Matthew McNeely.[2][3] The organization has grown to more than six hundred members by 2008. Legislators of this organization come from 44 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

Since its inception, NBCSL has met annually in a pre-determined host state for its Annual Legislative Conference. [1] Throughout the year, NBCSL sponsors policy symposia to keep members abreast of growing policy trends and educated on policy issues that affect NBCSL’s constituents. When legislators attend the Annual Legislative Conference, policy committees meet and discuss policy resolutions, drawing upon information presented in the symposia, that are voted up or down by the membership. These resolutions become the policy position of the organization. Legislators, corporate partners, and labor representatives take these policy resolutions and use them to influence public policy in state legislatures and on Capitol Hill.

Mission

The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) is a membership association representing more than 700 black state legislators from 47 states,[4] the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. NBCSL members represent more than 50 million Americans of various racial backgrounds. NBCSL monitors federal and state activity and provides this information to its members through policy symposiums and conferences. Each year, NBCSL members pass policy resolutions that directly impact federal and state policy. The organization focuses on issues that directly impact US domestic policy and is committed to policies that positively affect all Americans.

The primary mission of the NBCSL is to develop, conduct, and promote educational, research, and training programs designed to enhance the effectiveness of its members, as they consider legislation and issues of public policy which impact, either directly or indirectly, upon the general welfare of African American constituents within their respective jurisdictions.[5]

Objectives

The NBCSL has adopted the following fundamental objectives:

  • To serve as a national network and clearinghouse for the discussion, dissemination and exchange of ideas and information among African American state legislators and their staffs;
  • To provide research, training and educational services to African American state legislators and their staffs.
  • To improve the effectiveness and quality of African American state legislators; and
  • To serve as a strong, united and effective advocate for African American state legislators and their constituencies at the federal level.

NBCSL Policy Committees
  • Committee on Agriculture
  • Committee on Business, Finance, & Insurance
  • Committee on Emergency Preparedness / Homeland Security
  • Committee on Education
  • Committee on Energy, Transportation, & Environment
  • Committee on Gaming, Sports, & Entertainment
  • Committee on Health & Human Services
  • Committee on Housing
  • Committee on International Affairs
  • Committee on Labor, Military, & Veterans' Affairs
  • Committee on Law, Justice, & Ethics
  • Committee on Telecommunications, Science, & Technology
  • Committee on Youth

NBCSL Task Force
  • Task Force of Gun Violence

Executive Officers

Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC), President[6]

Representative Billy Mitchell (GA), President-Elect[6]

Representative Laura V. Hall (AL), Vice President[6]

Representative Rena Moran (MN), Secretary[6]

Representative Harold M. Love (TN), Financial Secretary[6]

Senator Raumesh Akbari (TN), Treasurer[6]

Senator Gerald Neal (KY), Parliamentarian[6]

Senator Karla May (MO), Chaplain[6]

State Legislative Black Caucuses
  • Alabama Legislative House & Senate Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Laura Hall
  • Arizona Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Leah Landrum Taylor
  • Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Kevin Goss
Chairperson: Holly Mitchell
Chairperson: Margaret Rose Henry
  • Florida Conference of Black Legislators[7]
Chairperson: Alan B. Williams
Chairperson: Senator Lester G. Jackson
Chairperson: Representative Kenneth Dunkin
Chairperson: Vernon G. Smith[9]
  • Iowa Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Wayne Ford
Chairperson: Representative Barbara W. Ballard
  • Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus
Chairperson: Senator Gerald A. Neal
Chairperson: Delegate Daryl Barnes
Chairperson: Representative John Bowman
  • Legislative Black Caucus (Virgin Islands)
Chairperson: Senator Usie Richards
  • Legislative Black and Hispanic Caucus (Wisconsin)
Chairperson: Senator Lena Taylor
  • Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus (Connecticut)
Chairperson: Representative Christopher Rosario
Chairperson: Representative Juan A. LaFonta
  • Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Willie-Mae Allen
  • Michigan Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Mayor Sheldon Neeley
  • Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Senator Kenneth Wayne Jones
  • Nevada Black Legislative Caucus
  • New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Senator Ronald L. Rice
  • New York Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Assemblyman N. Nick Perry
  • North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Beverly Earle
Chairperson: Representative Barbara A. Sykes
  • Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Anastasia A. Pittman
Chairperson: Representative Stephen Kinsey
  • Rhode Island Minority Legislator/Leadership Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Joseph S. Almeida
  • South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative David Mack
  • Tennessee Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Johnny Shaw
  • Texas Legislative Black Caucus
Chairperson: Representative Senfronia Thompson
Chairperson: Delegate Dwight Jones

References
  1. Tyson King-Meadows, Thomas F. Schaller, Devolution and Black State Legislators: Challenges and Choices in the Twenty-First Century (State University of New York Press, 2007), ISBN 978-0791467305, pp. 194–95, 202 & passim. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  2. Nina Mjagkij, Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African American Associations (Taylor & Francis, 2003), ISBN 978-0203801192, p. 358. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  3. "Black Political Caucus Aims at Political Clout", Pittsburgh Press, November 19, 1977.
  4. Porter, Gregory. "From the President". National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  5. "NBCSL | About Us". nbcsl.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  6. "NBCSL | Executive Committee". nbcsl.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  7. Florida Legislative Black Caucus – Home Archived August 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Inc". Archived from the original on 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2008-04-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Welcome to the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Website
  11. Untitled Document Archived August 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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