August 2016 Public Policy Notes by Carolyn Smith

CALLS TO ACTION

Reminder: It’s My Vote: I will be Heard!

Update your registration and remind others to register (or check registration) in time for upcoming primaries and November election. (Editor’s note: it is too late to register for the August 30 primary for the first time, but you can update your information)

In Florida, the August primary is August 20-27, 2016. The actual primary election is Tues. Aug. 30. Check the place of your precinct.

In Duval, the August 30, 2106 primary is both closed and open:

Closed in choice of legislative candidates (to vote for candidates, one must be registered as either Republican or Democrat; if there is only one of each, each is automatically elected).

Open for the two amendments and districts that have school board members up for election. These ballot measures:

1. Extending the Better Jacksonville tax so that the pension plan for police and firefighters can be better funded.
2. FL Constitutional No. 4, officially entitled Solar Devices or Renewable Energy Source Devices; Exemptions from Certain Taxation and Assessment (entitled by supporting groups as The Consumers for Smart Solar Amendment).

This amendment is supported by several non-profit groups, including the NAACP and the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW).  They argued in an amicus brief before the Florida Supreme Court in June 2015 that this amendment is more beneficial to small business and individual home owners and renters than a solar amendment that will appear on the November ballot (it will be FL Constitutional No. 1, supported by utility companies and interests; its official title is Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice, but its supporters call it the Floridians for Solar Choice Amendment).

Urge members of Congress to pass the Equality Act (H.R. 3185; S. 1858).

 This bill would require 32 states to form and/or amplify a Human Rights Ordinance that would include the LGBT community.

Reminder: Urge Sens. Nelson and Rubio to oppose any Senate school bill that is like H. R. 4901.

AAUW has long opposed H. R. 4901 because it not only transfers public money in the form of vouchers to private and religious schools; it also frees these schools from Title IX gender, racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation protections. Amendments to restore these protections were offered by several representatives, but each failed, allowing H. R. 4901 to pass as written by voucher supporters. Evidence in a 2010 Dept. of Ed. report showed no gains in student achievement in most voucher schools.

INFORMATION

AAUW’s Newest Research: Barriers and Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership.

A study of why women are very under-represented in leadership roles in spite of making up 50% of the current workplace. Of the CEO’s of the S&P 500, only 5% are women; on 6 of the 50 governors are women; only 20% of K-12 superintendents are women.

AAUW applauds OFCLP”s Executive Order 11246

Executive Order 11246 updates that executive order passed 40 years ago. The update prohibits pay discrimination and sexual harassment, and it implements leave times for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Up to 65 million employees will be covered.