Budget & Economy | Crime & Gang Violence | Education | Energy & Environment | Equal Opportunity | Ethics & Accountability | Health Care | Immigration | Middle Class | Military & Veterans | National Security & Iraq | Rural | Second Amendment Rights | Seniors | Trade & Jobs | Women

Women: Ensuring Equity for Women

[Download the PDF of Kay’s Plan]
[Download a Side by Side Comparison]

Women have made great advances in our society over the past century. Women now enjoy several safeguards against discrimination, a higher level of economic security, and substantial protections against violence and exploitation. State Senator Kay Hagan, a working professional, dedicated mother and effective legislator, is a product of these important reforms.

Despite this significant progress, our country must continue to ensure that women enjoy opportunities for equality, safety and career development. It is a particular travesty that women performing the same job as men are paid only three-fourths what men are paid. Kay will work to end these inequities and ensure that women have the economic, educational, and physical security they deserve.

In the U.S. Senate, Kay will fight tirelessly to protect and improve the lives of women. Specifically, she will work hard to enact policies that:
• Improve Women’s Economic Opportunities
• Help Women Maintain a Healthy Work-Family Balance
• Prioritize Educational Opportunities for Women

IMPROVE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Although the quest for women’s rights has advanced throughout the years, we still have much work to be done to ensure that women are treated equally, with the respect and dignity they deserve. Kay will be an active sponsor of legislation in the U.S. Senate that gives women every opportunity to earn a fair living and to pursue their dreams.

Pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Eighty-eight years after the 19th Amendment gave women the long-deprived right to vote, it is unconscionable that women still suffer from discrimination in many walks of life. This discrimination is no more apparent than in the workplace, where in North Carolina, women make only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man, and women who have earned a college degree earn $13,000 less on average than men with the same educational achievement. Studies have concluded that, even when women work the same number of hours, reach the same level of education, are the same age, and are from the same region, they still make less than men for the same job. Kay believes that this continuing disparity must end, and that employers must accord women the respect they deserve by providing them an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work. She will strongly support enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, proposed legislation that aims to eliminate disparities in pay between men and women and permits women to enforce their right against workplace discrimination. Currently, the Supreme Court has ruled that women who are victims of pay discrimination have 180 days after receiving their first discriminatory paycheck to file suit. This legislation would permit women to sue within 180 days of receiving any discriminatory paycheck, not just the first paycheck, since women may not immediately realize they have been discriminated against. Furthermore, it would prevent employers from imposing a “gag rule” on discussions between employees about compensation, as some employers do to retaliate against women who allege pay discrimination. Such information is vital to ascertaining whether discrimination has occurred.

Enforce Prohibitions Against Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace. Although women receive protection under federal law from discrimination and harassment in the workplace, the Supreme Court, in recent years, has undermined their ability to enforce these protections and has limited the remedies available to compensate for unlawful abuses. Kay believes that federal law should make clear that companies may not deny their employees access to courts to enforce discrimination claims and should authorize attorneys’ fees for favorable settlements to ensure that women bringing such claims have access to counsel. She also believes that Congress should revoke draconian restrictions on the amount of damages that women can receive for successful claims of discrimination, restrictions that do not apply to successful actions for religion- or disability-based discrimination.

Promote the Success of Women-Owned Small Businesses. Small businesses owned and managed primarily by women contribute approximately $2.46 billion to our economy and employ more than 19 million Americans. But the potential of women to contribute is much greater. Kay believes we must do more to ensure that entrepreneurial women have the skills and the opportunity to start successful businesses. She will support increased funding for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, which provides financing, training, and mentoring to female entrepreneurs, and facilitates access to federal contracting and venture capital opportunities. She will also fight to reverse a recent regulation by the Bush Administration limiting the ability of certain women-owned small businesses to apply for federal contracts.

Enhance Research into Women’s Health Issues. Kay believes that the federal government must prioritize research that will help to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses suffered most commonly among women, including heart disease, ovarian and breast cancer, arthritis, and osteoporosis. She will support substantial funding for research into these debilitating diseases. Kay also believes that Congress must authorize research into the subject of health care disparities based on gender and race, and provide resources to increase public awareness about these disparities. Furthermore, she will push for the establishment of women’s health offices within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will ensure that women’s health concerns are being addressed throughout our federal policymaking regime.

Support Women in the Fight Against Crime. An estimated 200,000 sexual assaults and 1 million incidents of domestic violence occur every year, but the vast majority of these crimes go unreported. Kay has fought to deter and prosecute rape and domestic violence in North Carolina by providing funding for rape kit testing and enacting legislation to ensure that untested rape kits are processed. These measures give victims and law enforcement officers the information they need to find domestic violence perpetrators and bring them to justice, even years after the crime was committed. In the U.S. Senate, she will work to give communities the support they need to address domestic violence and sexual assault.

• Fully Fund The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA supports a variety of programs that train law enforcement officers and attorneys on how to address domestic violence. The law also helps to inform the community about how to avoid domestic violence and how to get out of abusive relationships with government support. In addition, VAWA works to improve services to victims of sexual assault and to children affected by domestic violence and provides aid to victims of international trafficking.

• Reduce The Backlog Of DNA Testing. Kay will work to reauthorize and fully fund legislation that provides funding to states so that they can work through the backlog of DNA testing in hundreds of thousands cases of rape and other violent crimes. Kay prioritized funding for reducing the DNA backlog in the state Senate, and she will continue her fight for justice in the U.S. Senate.

• Take DNA Samples From Convicted Felons. Kay will fight the Bush Administration’s attempts to drastically cut the federal budget for DNA analysis by providing federal funds to help state and local law enforcement expand the analysis of DNA. She will also authorize officials to obtain DNA samples from all convicted felons prior to their release from prison.

HELP WOMEN MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WORK-FAMILY BALANCE

Women often are forced to balance the competing roles of manager of the household budget, primary caregiver to children and parents, and employee in a business. As a working mom who has taken on women’s issues in the state Senate, Kay understands the concerns of women in North Carolina who struggle to maintain their delicate balance of family life and work. In the U.S. Senate, Kay will work vigorously to support policies that assist women in maintaining this balance.

Reform Family and Medical Leave Requirements. Kay believes that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), while a good start, does not adequately address the needs of working women. Currently, the FMLA requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave to eligible employees who need to attend to personal health conditions or those of an immediate family member. Kay believes Congress should strengthen the FMLA to encourage businesses to adopt a more family-friendly work environment. In particular, she will support legislation that:

• Allows employees to utilize job-protected leave for activities such as participation in school-related activities of children and taking parents to physicians’ appointments. Under North Carolina law, employees may take leave for up to four hours to attend school-related activities. Kay believes our state’s statute can serve as a model for federal action.

• Allows victims of domestic violence to take leave to attend court proceedings.

• Requires employers with 50 or more employees to offer paid sick leave to employees to attend to their own health or the health of their family members.

Ensure Safety in Day Care Centers. Working parents depend on day care centers and family child care homes to care for their children during the workday. Every parent deserves the peace of mind to know that, when they drop their child off at day care, that child will be safe. Kay is proud that North Carolina has adopted common sense regulations, such as criminal background checks, mandatory CPR training, space requirements, and sanitation standards, that govern child care in our state. Kay will push for all states to strengthen their day care safety standards.

Strengthen Tax Credits for Children. A significant majority of mothers with young children now work outside of the home, and this majority is likely to grow in the years to come. As a result, middle class families must rely on others to help care for their children. Paid day care can be more expensive than college – the average cost in North Carolina is $7,800 per year – and the child care tax credit has not kept pace with these costs. In fact, the average family with at least one child under the age of 5 spends $128 per week on child care; in 1985, the average weekly cost for child care was only $73 in today’s dollars. Kay would support a standardized child care tax credit equal to 40 percent of child care costs for all middle and working class families. She wants to ensure that both parents can work if they choose to do so and still have affordable child care for their children.

Improve Support for Elder Care. On top of working hard at their jobs and taking care of their children, many women have the additional responsibility of caring for their parents or other family members. Family caregivers provide a variety of vital services, including assistance with personal needs, management of medication regimens, preparation of meals, and communication with health providers. Kay believes that family members have a responsibility to care for loved ones in need. However, she also recognizes the financial and emotional hardships placed on caregivers. In the U.S. Senate, Kay will fight to permit lower-income caregivers’ expenses related to elder care for loved ones to qualify for the Dependent Care Tax Credit.

Strengthen Medicaid Support for Home Health Care. Caregivers often choose to provide care to seniors at home, rather than admitting them into nursing homes. Unfortunately, our federal policies do not match the desires of seniors to receive home health care rather than nursing home care. Over 60 percent of Medicaid funding for long-term care is spent in institutional settings, despite studies indicating that home health care is both more effective and more popular than nursing home care. Approximately 280,000 Medicaid patients are on waiting lists to receive reimbursement for home or community-based health care. Kay will support legislation that gives caregivers and seniors the choice under Medicaid to decide which long-term care best suits them. This measure will not only allow seniors to receive the type of care they need, but will also ensure greater efficiency in the use of our taxpayer dollars.

Protect Children Against Internet Predators. North Carolinians are appalled by the repeated news accounts of adults soliciting kids on social networking sites by portraying themselves as other children. Current laws against stalking are generally geographically-dependent, and laws against impersonating others pertain to impersonation of specific individuals. It should be a federal crime for an adult to pretend to be a minor online for purposes of solicitation or harassment. In the state Senate, Kay supported legislation to require sex offenders to register all online aliases, and to bar sex offenders from accessing social networking sites. In Washington, Kay will support similar legislation to require sex offenders to register all Internet aliases with a federal database that would be accessible to social networking sites.

PRIORITIZE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

Educational achievement is central to economic opportunity in North Carolina and across the country. Unfortunately, women remain underrepresented in many higher education programs that prepare Americans to compete in the global workforce. In addition, despite the advances made by Title IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), fewer girls participate in high school extracurricular activities such as athletics teams. In the U.S. Senate, Kay will work to reduce these key disparities and will ensure that women have an equal chance to succeed in the educational arena.

Reduce Disparities in STEM Education for Women and Prioritize American Innovation. For the past hundred years, America has been the world’s engine of innovation. Unfortunately, as China and India make significant investments in educating their next generation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), America risks losing its technological edge. If America wants to continue producing good-paying, high technology jobs and maintain its innovation advantage, we must create incentives for all Americans – especially women, who are currently underrepresented – to study and enter the fields of mathematics, science, and technology. Kay will support public policies that aim to reduce the stigma of women becoming scientists or engineers. In particular, she will seek development of public-private partnerships that fund accelerated academic programs in math and science fields for young women, and she will look for innovative ways to support women who focus their collegiate studies on science, math, and technology.

Provide Significant Funding for the Patsy T. Mink Graduate Fellow Program. Although institutions of higher education have made significant strides in increasing the number of women faculty members over recent years, only approximately one-third of all full-time faculty members is female. In large part, the ongoing disparity between men and women faculty representation persists because fewer women enter doctoral or other high-level graduate programs that are a necessary qualification for teaching in higher education. As part of the legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act earlier this year, Congress passed a provision allocating grant money to colleges and universities to provide fellowships for women and minorities doctoral students. This program, named after former Rep. Patsy Mink, will be a valuable resource for colleges and universities seeking to improve representation of women and minorities on their full-time faculty and as a senator, Kay would push for full funding.

Provide Funding for Campus Child Care. Many women with children struggle to take care of their kids while attending an institution of higher education. This reality is a particular problem for low-income students, who cannot afford to send their children to day care or after-school programs while earning little or no income during their time as students. Fortunately, Congress created an initiative in 1998 called the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program. This program provides grants to institutions of higher education to develop child care programs that will encourage low-income parents to receive a post-secondary degree. Kay believes that this program must receive adequate funding to ensure that low-income mothers are not deterred from enrolling in a university or community college because they can’t find affordable child care. Furthermore, she will support grant applications for North Carolina’s institutions of higher education that seek to participate in the program.

Promote Gender Equality in High School Sports. Title IX of the ESEA has forced schools around the country to provide equal educational and athletic opportunity for girls in high schools. As a result, most high schools in our country keep track of participation in high school sports teams by boys and girls, as well monitor the gender of coaches leading high school sports teams. Despite the collection of this data, high schools, unlike colleges, are currently not required to report this data to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, an entity that aims to prevent gender discrimination in athletics. Kay believes that high school girls should have an equal opportunity to participate on athletic teams. She understands that the federal government must have the information necessary to act against widespread gender discrimination in high school athletics. Therefore, she will support legislation that encourages high schools to report statistics about athletic participation to the Department of Education to ensure equal opportunity for female high school athletes.

Back to The Issues