Source: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/new-york/2014/05/20/advocates-push-senate-womens-equality-act/9352935/
ALBANY – State legislators and women’s rights advocates gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to once again call on the Senate to pass the Women’s Equality Act.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2013 State of the State address introduced the 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda. The package of bills seeks to end discrimination and inequality based on gender.
The Women’s Equality Act passed in the Assembly in 2013 but failed to pass with Republicans in the state Senate because of their opposition to the 10th point, which would strengthen abortion rights. Republicans and a five-member breakaway Democratic caucus control the Senate.
Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said they are committed to passing all 10 points of the Women’s Equality Act instead of passing the bills separately.
“I don’t think you’ll hear anybody here thinking that any bill in that package isn’t an important bill,” she said at the news conference. “I think we accomplish more together, and I think that every single person, if they really thought about it, would want all of the pieces in the package to pass because there’s not one element of this, frankly, that should legitimately be denied.”
Last week, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, said she would push for a standalone bill in the Assembly for her legislation to strengthen human trafficking laws, which is part of the Women’s Equality Act. Paulin said the issue of human trafficking is more important than politics, and she believed the Women’s Equality Act would fail to pass the Senate again this year.
Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, disagreed and said the timing is right for the Women’s Equality Act to pass this legislative session. In 2012, the abortion issue was hotly debated in several Senate races, including ones in Westchester County and the Rochester area. The advocates said women make up more than 50 percent of the electorate in New York.
“It’s an election year,” Krueger said. “Which one of us wants to go home and explain to the women and men in our districts who disproportionately – wherever we come from – want this to be the law of the land. Which one of us wants to go home and say, ‘We wouldn’t let it come to the floor for a vote, we hid behind even having to take a vote or we voted no?’ ”
Women’s rights advocates also supported keeping the package of bills together instead of voting on them separately.
“I’m here representing the majority who know that problems that women face are interconnected and the solutions inseparable,” said Christie Petrone, a spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-Choice New York. “We shouldn’t be forced to ask, ‘Which rights should we protect this year?’ or ‘In which areas of life can women wait to be equal?’ A woman’s rights, safety and equality aren’t up for negotiation.”
Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative group that opposes the abortion piece, said good legislation is being thrown away for politics. Republicans have supported nine of the 10 points but not the abortion component.
“It’s unfortunate that they knew these bills were going to go down in defeat. Sex-trafficking legislation should not be held up again for another political stunt,” McGuire said. “But unfortunately, I think politics has taken the preeminent role over this.”
ALBANY – State legislators and women’s rights advocates gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to once again call on the Senate to pass the Women’s Equality Act.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2013 State of the State address introduced the 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda. The package of bills seeks to end discrimination and inequality based on gender.
The Women’s Equality Act passed in the Assembly in 2013 but failed to pass with Republicans in the state Senate because of their opposition to the 10th point, which would strengthen abortion rights. Republicans and a five-member breakaway Democratic caucus control the Senate.
Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said they are committed to passing all 10 points of the Women’s Equality Act instead of passing the bills separately.
“I don’t think you’ll hear anybody here thinking that any bill in that package isn’t an important bill,” she said at the news conference. “I think we accomplish more together, and I think that every single person, if they really thought about it, would want all of the pieces in the package to pass because there’s not one element of this, frankly, that should legitimately be denied.”
Last week, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, said she would push for a standalone bill in the Assembly for her legislation to strengthen human trafficking laws, which is part of the Women’s Equality Act. Paulin said the issue of human trafficking is more important than politics, and she believed the Women’s Equality Act would fail to pass the Senate again this year.
Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, disagreed and said the timing is right for the Women’s Equality Act to pass this legislative session. In 2012, the abortion issue was hotly debated in several Senate races, including ones in Westchester County and the Rochester area. The advocates said women make up more than 50 percent of the electorate in New York.
“It’s an election year,” Krueger said. “Which one of us wants to go home and explain to the women and men in our districts who disproportionately – wherever we come from – want this to be the law of the land. Which one of us wants to go home and say, ‘We wouldn’t let it come to the floor for a vote, we hid behind even having to take a vote or we voted no?’ ”
Women’s rights advocates also supported keeping the package of bills together instead of voting on them separately.
“I’m here representing the majority who know that problems that women face are interconnected and the solutions inseparable,” said Christie Petrone, a spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-Choice New York. “We shouldn’t be forced to ask, ‘Which rights should we protect this year?’ or ‘In which areas of life can women wait to be equal?’ A woman’s rights, safety and equality aren’t up for negotiation.”
Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative group that opposes the abortion piece, said good legislation is being thrown away for politics. Republicans have supported nine of the 10 points but not the abortion component.
“It’s unfortunate that they knew these bills were going to go down in defeat. Sex-trafficking legislation should not be held up again for another political stunt,” McGuire said. “But unfortunately, I think politics has taken the preeminent role over this.”
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