Minnesota Agencies

Advise the Minnesota governor and legislature on issues and laws relating to Chicano-Latino people in Minnesota and to improve economic and social conditions for Chicano-Latino people. The council will serve as liaison between Chicano-Latino people and state, local, and federal government, and private organizations. The council will study problems of Chicano-Latino people in the areas such as education, employment, human rights, housing, and social welfare. It will publicize the accomplishments of Spanish-speaking people. The council will review applications for federal money and proposed state agency rules which have their primary effect on Spanish-speaking people.

The council shall prepare and submit a report to the governor and legislature by November 15 of each year. The report shall summarize the activities of the council since its last report, list receipts and expenditures, identify the major problems and issues confronting Chicano/Latino people, make recommendations to address issues, and list the specific objectives that the council seeks to attain during the next biennium. The council shall report on outcome measures.

The Chicano Latino Affairs Council (CLAC), is a statewide government agency created by the legislature in 1978 (under the name Spanish Speaking Affairs Council). The primary mission of CLAC is to advise the governor and the state legislature on the issues of importance to Minnesota's Chicano Latino community.

The name of the Council is changed by 1996 Minn. Laws Chap. 420 from Spanish Speaking Affairs Council to Chicano Latino Affairs Council.

The statutory authority for the Chicano Latino Affairs Council was repealed in the 2015 legislative session. The ethnic councils were restructured under new legislation, creating the new Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs (2015 Minn. Laws Chap. 77 Art. 2 Sec. 5).

As of 2015, the state Council on Affairs of Chicano/Latino People consists of 11 members appointed by the governor, including eight members representing each of the state's congressional districts and three members appointed at large.

Membership must accurately reflect the demographic composition of Minnesota's Chicano/Latino community, including migrant workers, as determined by the state demographer. Two members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker and two members of the senate appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules and Administration shall serve as nonvoting members of the council.

Minn. Stat. 257.0755: One ombudsperson shall operate independently from but in collaboration with each of the following groups: the Indian Affairs Council, the Council on Affairs of Chicano/Latino people, the Council on Black Minnesotans, and the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans.

Minn. Stat. 257.0768: Community-Specific Boards; Subdivision 1. Membership.
Four community-specific boards are created. Each board consists of five members. The chair of each of the following groups shall appoint the board for the community represented by the group: the Indian Affairs Council; the Council on Affairs of Chicano/Latino people; the Council on Black Minnesotans; and the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans. In making appointments, the chair must consult with other members of the council.