MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Mark Dayton says he wants to double the percentage of minority workers in Minnesota state government’s ranks before he leaves office in 2019.

The Democratic governor announced his goal of ensuring 20 percent of Minnesota public employees are minorities during his State of the State Address on Wednesday night. Dayton says that benchmark has increased from 8 percent to 10 percent since he took office.

Dayton says it’s his way of making government an example for Minnesota to follow.

It’s a small part of the governor’s focus on narrowing economic disparities. Those issues have come to a head in Minnesota after a report showing the gaps have worsened in recent years for black Minnesota residents and the death of a black man shot and killed by police last year.