Month: September 2016

I am honored to be your new president in this momentous year 2016. Ninety-six years after the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, one of the two major political parties has nominated the first woman to become president of this great country of ours (finally). This is the time for us to stand up with our sisters to recognize the hard work of the women and men who led the successful suffrage movement by keeping the polls accessible to everyone and ensuring all women are registered and educated on all issues.

Let us take advantage of our Public Policy Impact Grant in our Branches by making certain that all women are registered to vote.  Elections matter!  Let us make certain that all women are educated on issue-based choices. We will continue to fight for fair pay and against discrimination. Your vote is your voice.  Be Heard!

We are pleased with another dynamic Tech Trek STEM Camp held this year at Palm Beach State College.  We congratulate all of you for your caring support in making this possible this year for 60 young girls entering 8^th grade to attend. Our campers described this as an “awesome” experience.  We’re hoping that you have STEM as part of your operating budget.  It takes $1000 to send a girl to camp.

Our upcoming Leadership Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota Florida, beginning on Sunday, April 2^nd through Monday noon April 3^rd. This as you realize is a slight change for us, but I believe that starting early we should be able to plan accordingly. At this time of year, in the midst of tourist season, we are able to negotiate better hotel rates and accommodations by moving our conference to beginning on Sunday.  Let’s be open to this and try it!  Planning is underway.  You won’t want to miss this!

Each month one of your State Board Directors will be featured in “STEP WITH ME” to share pertinent information with you and to let you know that we are here for you.  This is an exciting time and we enthusiastically embrace the opportunities available to us as we continue to fulfill our mission of advancing equity to women and girls.  Working together we are stronger.

By Patricia DeWitt, Florida State Director for Public Policy

In a one member one vote canvass over the summer, Florida AAUW members voted to accept the national AAUW Public Policy Program as the public policy program for the state. I urge all AAUW members to read and reflect on this and download the brochure at http://www.aauw.org/resource/principles-and-priorities/.  Several of its principles are currently being challenged to a degree we haven’t seen in thirty years. “Advocacy” is the first term in our list of ways in which we promote equity for women and girls. This means having the courage to speak out for our Public Policy outside of our own groups of “like-minded women”.

The goals of our Impact Grant include Get Out the Vote and advocating for pay equity. Three branches who had indicated support when we were applying for the Impact Grant will be receiving funds for their projects in support of these goals. We will also be holding our annual Lobby Days in Tallahassee and possibly a special rally—look for more information soon.

Get Out the Vote, or GOTV, is the most pressing goal right now with national, state, and local elections coming soon. Lake/Sumter, Vero Beach, Winter Park, University of South Florida, and Flagler County have held GOTV events, and it’s not too late to hold a tabling event at a local college, a farmer’s market (the weather is getting nicer!), or even a mall. Put out a table and hand out AAUW materials such as the AAUW Action Fund Voter Issue Guide at http://www.aauw.org/resource/aauw-voter-issue-guide/, or the Florida-specific guide on the Senate election which you can find at http://bit.ly/2d48qal. This activity does not constitute endorsing a particular candidate, since it is focused on AAUW’s priority issues.

It’s not too late to get people to register to vote. Florida’s deadline is October 11, 2016. One can fill in an application online at http://bit.ly/1MWxvtO and mail it to the County Supervisor of Elections or take it to one of several locations including a public library. There are many ways to vote including early voting at a polling place and voting by mail. Check the website above.

Finally, all members and branches are urged to use their social media contacts to spread the word that people need to get out and vote, and ask them to consider AAUW issues when voting. I will be sending out suggestions on the AAUW Action Network. Please do try to make sure all your members are subscribed!

 

AAUW Public Policy by Carolyn Smith

CALLS TO ACTION (telephone, or http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/public-policy/two-minute-activist/):

1. Paycheck Fairness Act: Call Sen. Nelson & Rubio and US House Representative for YES vote.

Again and yet again AAUW urges calls for support of this act, reintroduced in the 114^th Congress by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and, as earlier, Sen Barbara Mikulski (D-Md).

2. FAMILY ACT (Family and Medical Insurance Leave): Call US Rep. Crenshaw and Brown for YES.

     This act would create a national family leave insurance program giving eligible employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave funded by employee and employer contributions.

3. GEEA (Patsy T. Mink Gender Equity in Education Act): Call Nelson, Rubio, and US House for YES.               

    GEEA  (S.3147 / H. R. 5682) would strengthen Title IX and honor Title IX’s founder, Patsy Mink (D-HI, 1970’s) by establishing an Office of Gender Equity in the US Dept. of Ed., to coordinate Title IX training programs, grants, and local and state entities supporting gender equity program.

4. Voting Rights Advancement Act (S.1659 / H.R. 2867): Call Nelson, Rubio, US House for YES.

This act would amend the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby v. Holder to strike out section 4b of the Voting Right Act of 1965, a section that required states with a history of discrimination to get clearance by the US Justice Dept. before making changes in voting procedures. The Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore section 4b, thus ensuring that those affected by loss of section 4b (many minority groups and 18-30 year olds) would be secure in getting the right to vote.

5. Judicial Nominations: Call Sen. Nelson & Rubio for YES
6. Federal Funding Accountability for Sexual Harassers Act: Call Congressional members for YES.

     This act would require universities and colleges to report to the US Dept. of Education any substantiated reports of sexual abuse by professors in STEM fields. The act was introduced by Jackie Speier (D-CA) at a press conference Thurs. Sept. 22. In attendance, AAUW’s Senior Government Relations Manager Anne Hedgepeth, who summarized AAUW’s recent research on sexual abuse in schools and colleges.

7. Computer Science for All Act: Call Congressional members for Yes.

       This AAUW-supported act, introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), would authorized $250 million in grants over five years to schools and colleges for computer education.

8. The Perkins Act: Call Sen. Nelson and Rubio for YES

The Perkins Act (the Perkins Career and Technical Act) was reauthorized by the US House during the week of Sept. 21, 2016. It has been held up in the Senate by provisions opposed by AAUW. These provisions would limit the Secretary of Education’s power in ensuring that Perkins funds would be used in career and technical programs offering equity in resources and gender protections. A Yes vote would ensure that Perkins funds would be used to help girls get training in high-wage and high-demand jobs.

INFORMATION

1. AAUW Celebrated National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 28.  Get out the Vote.
2. AAUW celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service, especially its recent inclusion of the Belmont-Paul Home as a National Monument celebrating the work of Alice Paul and others in the suffrage movement of the 1910s and 1920s. Alva Vanderbilt Belmont was an ardent supporter and provided funds to renovate the old Sewell home  as the headquarters of the National Women’s Party, formed by Alice Paul and supported by Belmont to the strengthen the suffrage movement, get the 19^th amendment passed, and continue to work of ensuring that women be able to vote.