November 19, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
The California Women's Agenda
Below is the agenda for California Women that was compiled by CA NOW in coalition with multiple women's groups. The "Top Ten Agenda Items" represent urgent legislative and policy priorities that need the governor's immediate attention. These points will be the focus of our first meeting with Schwarzenegger, assuming he agrees to meet with us. The rest of the agenda is still being discussed and developed in coalition. Please send input to:
Helen Grieco
Executive Director California
National Organization for Women
ed@canow.org
www.canow.org
916 442-3414 State Office
916 442-4765 Fax
926 J Street #424
Sacramento CA 95814
Top Ten Agenda Items for California Women
- Show your leadership as the Governor of the people by making your administration appointments reflect the diversity of California and achieve gender parity.
- Support adequate funding for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), and ensure that low-income California women have access to a remedy to sexual harassment and discrimination by adequately funding the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC). .
- Support continuing the current funding for K-12 and community colleges.
- Support the defeat of the initiative seeking to eliminate the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act (AB 205).
- Oppose the repeal of SB 2.
- Oppose any bills or initiatives that would restrict young women's access to reproductive health care services.
- Oppose budget cuts to current public programs such as Medi-Cal and family planning services; Family Planning Access Care and Treatment should always be fully funded.
- Oppose budget cuts to current programs that protect California's most vulnerable citizens, including CalWORKs participants and the homeless.
- Support a Child Care Master Plan for California that provides access to quality, affordable childcare for all families.
- Support California's paid family leave benefits program (Family Temporary Disability Insurance) and the expansion of family and medical leave to cover more employees by extending job protection to employees of companies of 30 or more.
Again, we are looking to develop a far reaching and diverse coalition of women to ensure that the needs of CA women and girls are a priority for the new administration. We urge you all to become involved.
Thank you, Clare Cooke
CodePink
In more detail...
2003/2004 Agenda for California Women
Appointments
. Show your leadership as the Governor of the people by making your administration appointments reflect the diversity of California and achieve gender parity.
. Show your leadership as the Governor of the people by supporting a judicial nomination and appointment process that seeks to achieve gender parity and is not a partisan litmus test.
Criminal Justice
. Support the parole board's recommendations to release battered women prisoners, who were unable to use battered woman's syndrome as a defense at the time of their conviction.
. Support appropriate health care for female prisoners and establish protocols to avoid sexual abuse of patients. . Support mothers who are considering a plea bargain to be notified of the potential implication of the plea bargain to their parental rights.
. Support incarcerated women and girls having access to their children, including overnight visits, and direct physical contact. . Support providing incarcerated women and girls with appropriate gender based drug and alcohol treatment programs. . Support providing parenting classes to incarcerated women and girls.
. Support expanding access and utilization of FOTP and Women and Infant Children programs.
. Support reform of the juvenile justice system, so that youthful offenders are not incarcerated with adults, but are channeled into rehabilitation facilities where there is access to mental health services, educational opportunities, and employment training. . Support tax-credits for employers who hire felons on probation.
Discrimination/Harassment
. Support a legislative mandate for all state employees and state elected officials to undergo mandatory trainings in the prevention of sexual harassment, discrimination, and violence.
. Support adequate funding for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), and ensure that low-income California women have access to a remedy to sexual harassment and discrimination by adequately funding the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC). . Support the new law or create a law that you would support to help undocumented immigrant workers obtain drivers licenses.
. Support funding the Wesson Pay Equity study.
. Oppose anti-civil rights/anti-affirmative action laws or
initiatives.
. Support bills prohibiting employers from requiring employees to sign pre-dispute arbitration agreements with respect to FEHA claims as a condition of employment (this year's AB 1715).
. Support the passage of The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, AB 1342). . Support the enforcement of ADA; creating a comprehensive CA ADA; and a sovereignty immunity waiver for the ADA and other disability access cases.
Economy
. Support increased income tax for the highest earners in California.
. Support women's small businesses getting equal access to capital and state contracts.
. Support legislation to ensure corporate accountability: SB 917, which prohibits corporate directors from performing duties at the expense of the environment or human rights, SB 819, which addresses excessive executive officer remuneration, and SB 917, which would award public contracts to socially responsible businesses.
Education
. Support continuing the current funding for K-12 and community colleges.
. Oppose support school vouchers.
. Support lowering tuitions/or freeze them in California public
higher education institutions.
. Support full funding for teenage pregnancy prevention programs; support ending the segregation of pregnant teens in schools; support students' access to confidential medical services during the school day; ensure administrators know about SB 71;
. Support access to education for undocumented immigrants and their children.
. Support the enforcement of Title IX, and reform California law to require CA schools to provide athletic participation opportunities for male and female students in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments in order to comply with the state's athletic equity laws.
. Support vocational training for girls in public middle and high schools and encourage student participation as a means to high wage careers in nontraditional employment fields for women.
Election Reform
. Support California Clean Money Campaign and/or others ways to achieve campaign finance reform.
Environment
. Implement your "Action Plan for California's Environment.
. Support the precautionary principle as a guide to
environmental policy: Where threats of serious or irreversible damage to people or nature exist, precautionary measures shall be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established by science.
Family Law
. Support the defeat of the initiative seeking to eliminate the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act (AB 205). . Support remedies to stop family courts' mistreatment of divorce and custody cases that involve domestic violence and abuse. . Support the child support bond program to guarantee payment of court-ordered child support (reference: www.childsupportpaymentcorporation.com).
. Host a conference to address and propose reforms to the family court system's problems with gender bias and denial of due process.
Health Care
. Oppose the repeal of SB 2. Support California moving toward universal health care (reference: SB 921, Kuehl).
. Oppose any bills or initiatives that would restrict young women's access to reproductive health care services; support Medi-Cal coverage for abortion, address decreasing access to reproductive health care in rural communities due to privatization of hospitals/Catholic hospital systems; oppose abortion ban procedures. . Oppose budget cuts to current public programs such as Medi-Cal and family planning services; Family Planning Access Care and Treatment should always be fully funded.
. Support research into potential environmental factors in women's cancers.
. Support access to healthcare for undocumented immigrants and their children, including prenatal care for undocumented women. . Support protections for disabled and senior women by not cutting caregiver wages.
. Support the implementation of new cost reimbursement codes to ensure no cuts in nursing home reimbursement rates. . Support access to affordable prescription drugs.
Violence
. Support advocates for women having a seat at the table if California's Victim Services are re-organized this year. . Support the protection of funding for domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers and victims services.
. Support adequate funding for anti-violence, anti-gang programs, including programs that target teen dating violence prevention and sexual battery and assault prevention.
. Support tolerance training and enhanced civil rights enforcement in our schools.
. Support full implementation of recent laws that make gender-bias crime a hate crime.
Welfare/Economic Justice
. Oppose budget cuts to current programs that protect California's most vulnerable citizens, including CalWORKs participants and the homeless.
. Support funding CalWORKs COLAs.
. Support access to quality, affordable childcare, reliable
transportation, and education/job training to make CalWORKs work requirements feasible.
. Support funding CalWORKs Stage II and Stage III childcare adequately.
. Support funding services for CalWORKs participants who are victims of domestic violence.
. Support access to affordable housing and
adequate/affordable/safe transportation.
Support living wage legislation, like SB 57 that automatically adjusts minimum wage according to the Consumer Price Index. . Support job training and placement for women participating in CalWorks in nontraditional employment fields for women that would lead to higher wage positions in the future, e.g., construction and public safety.
Work/Family Balance
. Support a Child Care Master Plan for California that provides access to quality, affordable childcare for all families. . Support California's paid family leave benefits program (Family Temporary Disability Insurance). Support the expansion of job protections under the California Family Rights Act to cover more employees who are eligible for Family Temporary Disability Insurance. . Support adding "familial status" to the list of prohibited categories of employment discrimination under FEHA.