By Danny Contreras
CT Latino News
As Latino voters are increasingly courted by political parties and their candidates, CTLatinoNews.com researched the Latino employment records of the state’s congressional delegation to provide a snapshot of how campaign speeches and promises translate into their congressional hiring practices once they are elected to office.
Among the state’s seven Democrat members of Congress, if current staffing levels in their offices were to reflect the percentage of the population, overall most appear to have staffs that fall short in representing this growing segment of the labor force.
The question seemed to be a sensitive topic for some. Two of the state’s U.S. representatives preferred not respond to our inquiry on this subject, nor did the offices of the state’s two U.S. Senators, where the numbers are just as bleak.
One appears not to have any Latino employees; the other senator has two Latinos in a staff of 50 which translates to a current employment record of Latinos at about 4%.
According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos in Connecticut make up 13.4% of the total population of the state. In the congressional offices of the state’s five representatives, at the top end – one congressman has employed one full-time and one part-time Latino staff member – while at the low end – none are on the staff. This among congressional staffs that range in number from 18 employees to 24 in the House and 50 in the Senate, putting the current employment record of Latinos at about 3.1 percent for the entire delegation.
Overall, Latinos do not fare well when it comes to federal government hiring. According to an Aug. 31 story in CTLatinoNews.com, Latinos are less likely to work for the government than are either Whites or African Americans.
To identify the number of congressional staff members and how many Latinos are employed by the state’s five House members, CTLatinoNews.com …
Finish reading The Latino Hiring Record of Connecticut Members of Congress
