RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gov. Ralph Northam has formed a new commission tasked with finding discriminatory language in state laws and regulations. Northam signed an executive order Tuesday establishing the commission and tasking it issue findings by November.The order came same day as the governor held a ceremonial bill signing ceremony that struck Jim Crow-era exceptions from the state’s minimum wage law. Previously, state law said certain jobs traditionally held by African Americans, including ushers and doormen, were exempt from paying minimum wage. Northam said he wants the commission to find other examples of “vestiges of inequity and inequality” on Virginia’s books.The governor pledged to focus on addressing Virginia’s longstanding history of racial inequity after a blackface scandal nearly forced him from office in February.
