We held the first of what we hope will be many Update on Issues Conference Calls on November 6. Over 20 members signed up in advance and more tuned into the ninety-minute discussion about the Women’s Equality Agenda.
We heard Barb Thomas, LWVNYS Board Member and Pay Equity Issue Specialist, give us a rundown of the history of the WEA, its journey through the legislative process last spring and the push to encourage the reconvening of the legislature before the end of the year. The participants were then given the opportunity to comment or ask questions and we discussed a range of issues from the on-going lobbying efforts of locals throughout the state, the reactions of their Senators to those meetings, attitudes of specific Senators who had been targeted for special attention by the coalition, the strategy of the coalition going forward. Questions about the method by which we reached consensus on the human trafficking portion of the legislation were asked, as were questions about the League position vis-à-vis the provision of the WEA which deals with attorney fees.
We are in the process of setting up a second call-this one focusing on environmental issues. If this is an area of interest to you, or if you have questions or comments about the League’s position or action on this issue, please dial in. Information on the date, time and call-in procedures will be revealed soon!
