Cortez Masto Visits White House, Calls for Focus on Jobs & Economic Recovery for Nevada’s Latino Community

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after her visit with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the White House, where she advocated for additional support to help Hispanic-Americans get back to work and to boost Hispanic-owned small businesses. During the meeting, Senator Cortez Masto specifically called for President Biden to create an interagency American Jobs Plan equity task force to ensure federal resources go to communities with the greatest needs, and urged the White House to work with her and ensure minority-owned businesses have access to capital and credit during the economic recovery.

'Today's meeting with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was a good opportunity to discuss how we can work together to create more jobs in Latino communities. The pandemic has exacerbated existing racial disparities in Nevada and across the United States, and my focus is making sure we can get Latinos back to work with good-paying jobs and invest in our Latino-owned businesses. I look forward to continuing to work with the White House to make sure federal support is getting to the communities that need it most as our economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.'

Senator Cortez Masto led efforts in the Senate to address workforce challenges in underserved communities and increase access for minority-owned small businesses. She introduced legislation to invest in minority-owned small businesses, to expand Nevada's workforce by promoting education and training for workers in in-demand industries, and to connect students in underserved schools with mentors in entrepreneurship.

Cortez Masto has consistently worked to ensure that federal relief programs get to the communities that need them most. During the pandemic she helped lead efforts to make sure that small businesses without access to credit were able to get the Small Business Administration (SBA) loans they needed to stay afloat, and secured a $30 billion set-aside of funding for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI's) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) for the Paycheck Protection Program last year.

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