Current Legislative Foci
Child Care: increased support in the federal budget for the Child Care Development Block Grant; child care subsidies for the working poor; increased support of the 21st Century Learning Centers for school age children, including community based programs; and funds to increase salaries, benefits and training for child care workers.
Social Security Reform: to assess each proposed social security reform proposal for its impact on women we support the National Council of Women’s Organizations’ Women’s Checklist on Social Security Reform. (Note: the checklist was included in the March 1999 YWCA of the U.S.A. Public Policy Bulletin) Currently we are identifying coalitions to work with and are monitoring the introduction of reform proposals.
Violence Prevention: support of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R.1082 and S.622), which would remove unnecessary obstacles to federal prosecution and provides authority for federal involvement in crimes directed at individuals because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation. Support of the Violence Against Women Act of 1999 (H.F.357 and S.51). A bill that addresses the impact on violence on children; the needs of older, disabled and immigrant women who are battered; safety in the workplace; and training for local law enforcement, judicial staff, and others on the front lines working with victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault.
Health Care: support of the proposed Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act of 1999. A bill which would allow states to provide Medicaid coverage to treat women who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer under the CDC National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program; opposition to anti-choice legislation; support for public funding for family planning services.
Affirmative Action: monitoring of anti-affirmative action referendum in states. It is anticipated that Michigan and Florida may be the next states of such a referendum.
Immigration: support welfare reform and violence against women initiatives that include services to legal immigrants and support of full funding for a fair and accurate census count in 2000, that includes multilingual census personnel.
CEDAW: support for U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women the Women’s Human Rights Treaty. The treaty defines discrimination against women and requires states to eliminate discrimination in civil, political, social, economic, and cultural arenas.
