July 2007
In this Issue New Supreme Court's Legacy Fair Pay Fix Appropriations Bill Leveling the Playing Field for 35 Years NWLC's Title IX Team Child Support Enforcement Keeping Kids and Parents Healthy Diversity Shunned by Court AZ Gov. at Awards Dinner Head Start Preschool Program    Spread the Word Tell your friends to sign up for NWLC's Advocacy Network to get timely information that matters to women and their families! Take Action Family, Friend and Neighbor Care Webinar NWLC is sponsoring a series of free webinars and conference calls in conjunction with NWLC’s report Close to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) Care.  The third webinar in the series will cover strategies for supporting FFN Care providers with home visiting programs. This interactive, online conference call, featuring Diane Paulsell, Principal Researcher with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., will take place on Thursday July 19, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. EST.  Register online today!     Featured Blog Post From Womenstake.org:  Does Billionaire Steve Schwarzman Pay a Lower Tax Rate Than You? "Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing with the unbelievably boring title of “Carried Interest, Part I.” But before you yawn and ignore this hearing (or this post), consider this: CEO Stephen Schwarzman reportedly will receive as much as $677 million from the “carried interest” he receives for managing The Blackstone Group, which went public last month. That’s an impressive amount of money—but the real kicker is that he’ll only pay 15% federal income tax on that income...."   Featured Publication   Breaking Down Barriers: A Legal Guide to Title IX and Athletic Opportunities
Nancy Duff Campbell Co-President, NWLC	Marcia D. Greenberger Co-President, NWLC

NWLC News

New Supreme Court Wraps Up Term, but with What Legacy? 
The one-vote margin which decided several critical cases in the just concluded Supreme Court term demonstrates, in startling terms, the impact of the changed composition of the Court. NWLC provides a wrap-up of some of the cases important to women that were decided by the newly reconstituted court.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Moving Forward
The wage discrimination case involving Lilly Ledbetter has been widely reported as the recently decided case in which the Supreme Court severely weakened remedies for workplace discrimination.  Less well known is that Ms. Ledbetter had been the victim of an earlier unfair judgment--based on an arbitrary damages cap that generally applies in employment discrimination cases based on sex, religion and disability--that reduced her jury award to less than one tenth of the original amount. Now NWLC is working to find a remedy to both aspects of this case and encouraging passage of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure that employees who are victims of pay discrimination will be able to seek a full remedy for past wrongs.

Appropriations Bill 
This month, the House is expected to debate and vote on the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, and the Senate may follow after that. Both the House and Senate bills dedicate more funding for domestic spending than the President proposed in his annual budget, or than Congress and the President have enacted in the past six years. The House and Senate bills provide for some long-overdue funding increases for programs that primarily serve women, for example, a $28 million increase for Title X family planning services, the largest increase in 25 years. The Senate bill increases funding for Head Start by $200 million, but includes no increase for child care.  The House bill only has a $75 million increase for each program. For up-to-date information, make sure you're signed up for NWLC alerts on tax and budget issues.

Despite Obstacles, Landmark Law Turns 35 in Style
In a recent poll, 82% of voters supported Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that mandates equal educational and athletic opportunities for girls and women.  Despite this overwhelming support, there is substantial evidence-- as reported in NWLC's Barriers to Fair Play--that the law is not being fully or adequately enforced.  On June 19th, NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger testified before a House Education and Labor Subcommittee that “much remains to be done to ensure that women have truly equal access and opportunities in all areas of education, but nowhere is that more true than in athletics.” Learn more about how NWLC celebrated Title IX’s 35th anniversary and what you can do to show your support for gender equity. 

NWLC's 35th Title IX Anniversary Team
(left) Theresa Keeley, Dina Lassow, Jocelyn Samuels, James Mathieson, Kristina Peronko, Alexis Kuznick, Neena Chaudhry, Rhonda McIntyre Malone,  Seated: Lisa LeMair and Princess Bethea.  Not shown: Jenice Robinson, Ranit Schmelzer, Marcia Greenberger, Fatima Goss Graves. 

Special thanks to the NWLC staff who helped mark Title IX's 35th anniversary by rolling out a new website, publications, reports and media coverage.

Movement to Protect Child Support Enforcement Gaining Ground
The March Update reported that bills had been introduced in Congress to restore funding cut from the child support enforcement program—and to prevent families from losing $11 billion in child support that will go uncollected over the next ten years if the cuts take effect.  Thirty House members and twelve Senators from both parties have joined as co-sponsors and supporters are stepping up their activities. In late June, over 400 child support professionals, advocates, and concerned individuals from across the country participated in a webinar, How to Prevent Child Support Cuts, co-sponsored and moderated by NWLC, and a congressional briefing is scheduled for July 13. But Congress must act quickly—otherwise, the cuts will take effect this October. Find out if your members of Congress are co-sponsoring the legislation and take action to restore funding for child support! 

Keeping Kids and Parents Healthy
Currently, 300,000 parents across the country receive health care coverage through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  In working to preserve this coverage, NWLC recently sent sign-on letters on behalf of 38 women’s health, children’s, faith-based, and consumer advocacy groups to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging them to continue this coverage.  If your Senator or Representative serves on one of these committees, please take the time to contact them in support of parent coverage in SCHIP reauthorization. 

School Integration Dealt Blow by Supreme Court Decision
On the last day of the 2006-2007 term, the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 vote against two school districts that had used voluntary school desegregation plans that took race, among many other factors, into account when assigning students to open-choice schools. The Court’s refusal to permit the reasonable use of race in these cases denies schools a vital tool for desegregating their classrooms and demonstrates a lack of awareness of real world circumstances. Read Co-President Marcia Greenberger's statement.

Governor Janet Napolitano to Address 2007 Annual Awards Dinner
We’re very excited to announce that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano will speak at NWLC’s Annual Awards Dinner on November 7. Gov. Napolitano is the first woman to chair the National Governors' Association and has been a strong advocate for women and families on issues from health care and education to child care and domestic violence. November 7th is sure to be a wonderful evening! To learn about sponsorship opportunities for you or your organization, click here.

Positive Changes for the Head Start Preschool Program
The Senate and House this spring approved reauthorization bills that will strengthen and improve the Head Start program that provides comprehensive preschool to over 900,000 low-income children every year.  Helen Blank, NWLC’s Director of Leadership and Public Policy, stated on NWLC's blog, Womenstake.org, that “Both bills are rooted in the reality of families’ lives as well as the research on effective strategies to improve the well-being of young children . . . [and] make more children eligible for Head Start’s comprehensive supports and wisely open the door to serving more families with infants and toddlers through Early Head Start.”  NWLC strongly supported these and other provisions and commends Congress for doing right by the children served by this program.  NWLC continues to be involved as the conference committee resolves key differences as the bills move forward.