Statewide "Women for Kay" Group Unveiled

October 11, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. – State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan (D-Guilford) today released a comprehensive policy to further promote economic and educational opportunities for women and help them maintain a healthy work-family balance. The campaign also released its statewide “Women for Kay” steering committee, comprised of more than 75 active women who are committed to supporting and working for Kay.

“This is an historic year for women in our state,” said Kay. “There are unprecedented numbers of women running for office all across the state, bringing a unique perspective to government and civic service. We’ve come very far, but there is still much farther to go. In North Carolina, women continue to make only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the workplace for a similar job. I’ve raised three great children, and I know the challenges women face trying to maintain a healthy balance between work and family. We need to do more to help ensure women are successful at home and in the workplace.”

Kay’s plan focuses on three areas:

1. Improving economic opportunities for women.
2. Help women maintain a healthy work-family balance.
3. Prioritizing educational opportunities for women.

Kay will work to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act to address the continued salary discrepancy women face in the workplace, as well as enforce the rights of women to litigate against discrimination. Kay will also advocate that the Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership be fully funded for financing, training and mentoring for female entrepreneurs.

Maintaining a healthy balance between family and work is critical to working women and their families. As Secretary of Labor, Elizabeth Dole urged President Bush to veto the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, which eliminates the false choice between the job people need and the families they love. Kay will work to expand the FMLA to include paid sick leave and to ensure that more workers can utilize the law’s protections to care for their loved ones.

Going to school can be difficult for mothers, and Kay wants to help women receive quality, affordable childcare as they work toward further occupational training or their degree. Kay will ensure the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program receives adequate funding. Additionally, Kay supports providing full funding for the Patsy T. Mink Graduate Fellow Program to encourage women to get advanced degrees and to address the faculty discrepancy in higher education.

Kay understands the challenges women face working and raising a family. Healthy families are extremely important, and through targeted tax credits and investments, the federal government should help families succeed, not watch while they fall behind.

Kay’s plan can be view here: http://www.kayhagan.com/issues/women

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“Women for Kay”

Rep. Alma Adams
Rep. Martha Alexander
Barbara Allen
Jan Allen
Margaret Bourdeaux Arbuckle
Rep. Alice Bordsen
Nancy Brenner
Sam Bryant
Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess
Rep. Jean Farmer Butterfield
Linda Carlisle
Mayor Loretta Clawson
Rep. Lorene Coates
Janice Cole
Rep. Tricia Cotham
Pat Cotham
Commissioner Dr. Jeanette M. Council
Sen. Janet Cowell
Beth Dehghan
Juanita Dixon
Rep. Margaret Dickson
Sen. Katie Dorsett
Rep. Beverly Earle
Councilwomen Laurin Easthom
Laura Edwards
Faye Etheridge
Barbara Faison
Janyth Frederickson
Shirley Frye
Judge Shirley Fulton
Sen. Linda Garrou
Councilwoman Florence Gatten
Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin
Rep. Pricey Harrison
Jill Hendrickson
Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes
Former First Lady Carolyn Hunt
Ambassador Jeanette Hyde
C. Jane Johnson
Mayor Yvonne Johnson
Dot Kearns
Patsy Keever
Sen. Ellie Kinnaird
Kathy Knight
Janene “Pooh” Lancaster
School Board Member Vilma Leake
Louise Learson
Grace Liem
Nancy Looper
Betty Ray McCain
Councilwoman Cora Cole McFadden
Dr. Anne McLaurin
Sue Mengert
Catherine Etheridge Otto
Rep. Earline Parmon
Bernice Pitt
Lisa Price
Betty Chafin Rash
Jean Reaves
Geneva B. Reid
Dr. Wilhemenia I. Rembert
Robin Roberts
Shirley Roberts
Rep. Deborah Ross
Mayor Bunnie Sanders
Lynn Sass
Councilwoman Bernita Sims
Mayor Becky Smothers
Pam Stubbs
Kathy Taft
Denise Turner
Rep. Alice Underhill
Councilwoman Betty Lou Ward
Rep. Edith D. Warren
Sarah Warden
Eulada Watt
Rep. Jennifer Weiss
Linda Willey
Jewell Wilson
In Memoriam, Commissioner Valerie Woodard

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