issue: NOW In The News

ACTION ALERT: Send an Email to Your Representative and Ask Her/Him to Support the Teach Safe Relationships Act of 2015 (H.R.3141).

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Our children are not safe because there is a culture of silence surrounding the issue of sexual violence in the United States. No one wants to believe that sexual violence could happen to our children, but the reality is that this is occurring at a rate of epidemic proportions. According to the CDC Foundation, domestic violence and violence against women and children is a global epidemic.

ISSUE ADVISORY: Good News: Obama Pushes for Higher Overtime Pay Threshold, Guaranteeing Millions Higher Wages

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Moving Toward Economic Equity – A long standing injustice soon could be rectified. Recently, President Obama announced a rule change to increase the salary threshold at which employers may exempt workers from overtime pay (for work beyond 40 hours per week) from $23,660 up to $50,440, starting in 2016. This is welcomed news for those of us that value fair pay as it would enable five million more workers to gain access to the overtime pay they deserve, but have been cheated out of it for decades. Their loss in income is due to efforts by conservative political leaders and business lobbyists who have kept the salary threshold that is subject to the overtime pay requirement unfairly low. The five million are part of a total 11 million workers who would be newly guaranteed overtime pay if the rule change is adopted. Importantly, women constitute a majority of workers in this group.

ISSUE ADVISORY: Women Benefit by Supreme Court Ruling on ACA Subsidies

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Affordable Care Act Subsidies Available in All States – As millions of recently insured persons anxiously awaited, the decision in the King v. Burwell case where conservatives made another desperate attempt to take down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) came as welcome and comforting news. Women, as the majority of persons enrolled in health insurance plans under the ACA, can rest easy now that the Court has said subsidies offered in the federally-facilitated health insurance marketplaces were certainly intended by Congressional lawmakers.

ISSUE ADVISORY- Violated: A Working Mother’s Right to Breastfeed

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The Fight for Coverage Continues- Many mothers choose to breastfeed their children and return to work. However, some women are facing discrimination because they need adequate time to express milk during permitted breaks at work. Some women have seen hours reduced, coverage denied, and some have even been fired for exercising their legal right to breastfeed.

ISSUE ADVISORY – Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality

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Update: The Status of Marriage Equality – By the end of June (Pride month), the U.S. Supreme Court will announce their decision regarding the constitutional status of marriage equality. Currently, there is marriage equality in 37 states and the District of Columbia and 13 states that prohibit marriage equality. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review for cases from four states –Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. These cases were in the appeals process after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned district court rulings after their marriage bans were struck down.