From the Grassroots to the Statehouse
It was a long journey from the many “town hall” meetings of the 2005 Road to Equity tour to the creation of new bills in 2006, but the Women's Foundation of California and our coalition of supporters and community-based advocates successfully used mail, fax and phone call outreach to lawmakers to help enact a number of policy changes at the state level.In the end, three bills were signed into law, and four other bills were passed by both California legislative bodies but ultimately vetoed by the governor. This legislative activity was directly related to the policy recommendations made in our report, On the Road to Equity: Women and Girls Driving the California Agenda. These policy recommendations were created by and for women and girls in California to address the issues they prioritized on the 2005 Road to Equity Tour.
The Foundation defines a policy “win” as any new law or state regulation that supports the health and well being of women, girls and their families. Passage of the three laws below exemplifies the efforts of the Foundation and our community of supporters to foster greater economic opportunity, promote a healthier environment and prevent violence for California's families and communities.
Health and the Environment
Biomonitoring
Scientific evidence is mounting that exposure to environmental toxins is linked to the incidence and severity of diseases like cancer, asthma, birth defects, endometriosis, infertility and developmental and learning disabilities. The Biomonitoring Law of 2006 creates a statewide program to test bodily fluids for toxins to help identify public health trends related to chemical exposure, publicize which communities have high exposure rates and make regulations and priorities more effective for subsequent legislative action related to environmental health. In short, this new law arms Californians with knowledge about potential environmental pollutants in their communities.
Economic Security
Minimum Wage Increase
Statewide, on average, a single parent with a preschooler must work full-time for a median wage of $12.50 per hour to pay for basic household costs. In one-third of California’s counties, these families require an hourly wage above $15 per hour just to make ends meet. Increasing the minimum wage is a good but modest step for low-income women and families. We also believe it is equally important to index the minimum wage annually to account for inflation in order to help meet the gap between earning and expenses. This new Minimum Wage Law not only increases the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour but also creates an automatic annual adjustment by the previous year's rate of inflation.
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