More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Sen Joe Manchin said he would not vote for a “reckless expansion of government programs,” and has reportedly demanded progressive Democrats “pick one” of Biden’s three family policies included in the bill: extending the child tax credit; childcare; or paid family and medical leave.
But most Americans don’t see investments in critical family policies as reckless—and they don’t want to choose between them.
Whether someone is navigating a child’s serious health needs, a cancer diagnosis, a parent’s stroke, the birth of a new child, or so many other personal events that shape our lives, all U.S. workers—not just those like me who happen to live in one of the nine states or D.C. that has passed a paid leave law—deserve to be there for their loved ones when we are needed most.
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: how new grants will help advance women’s representation in state legislatures; the 50-year fight for the ERA; the 2022 race for governor of New York state is heating up; outcomes for women in the recent elections in Canada; Egypt’s impressive number of women judges; the legacy of Angela Merkel’s leadership; and more.
This month marks the the 50th anniversary of the Equal Rights Amendment’s first passage in the House of Representatives. On Thursday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a historic hearing about the amendment to examine the final steps necessary to certify.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) were elected to represent their constituents. But they are ignoring the cries of working families and caregivers, mothers of color in particular, by sitting on a much-needed $3.5 trillion investment that could address the decades-long fiscal neglect of low- and moderate-income families and communities.
When she was a college freshman in 1994, Christy Brzonkala was gang-raped by two students at Virginia Tech. Brzonkala turned to a law newly passed called the Violence Against Women Act—and her case made it to the Supreme Court, where women’s right to equal protection from violence ultimately died.
When passed, the Equal Rights Amendment would spark Congress to enact new laws on gender violence, including redrafting the Violence Against Women Act civil rights remedy, and chart a path to overturn Brzonkala’s devastating decision.
In March, the House passed H.J. Res. 17, which would eliminate the arbitrary time limit for ERA ratification and remove any shadow of uncertainty about the ERA’s validity. A companion measure is pending in the Senate.
Gender equality is not a partisan issue. The ERA is the way to guarantee it, and the time for action is now.
As we move closer to equal pay for equal work, we must not forget that for Latinas and other women of color, the wage gap is the most dramatic—hindering our economy and leaving millions of working families behind.
Democratic members of Congress like Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Cori Bush are using the platforms and legal maneuvering they have access to, building political pressure to ensure that enacted laws reflect the will of the bipartisan pro-choice majority in the U.S.
The paid leave proposal in the Build Back Better plan would specifically provide paid leave for people who need to “find safety from assault, stalking and sexual violence.”
The recognition and inclusion of people who experience intimate partner violence in the Build Back Better plan’s proposal for federal paid family and medical leave is a path-breaking step in supporting a population who is often invisible in the workplace.
