Legislative Committee

Chair: Christine Weigle

Political Involvement and Advocacy is an important aspect of BPW at all levels. In an effort to keep our members informed politically, the legislative committee is charged with the responsibility of getting information about government activity relative to issues that effect the working woman.

Click Here to Find Your Representatives.

I hope everyone will find their Representatives give them a call this month.  October brings another special secession, one where additional budget cuts will be made and many of them to agencies that can least afford the cuts.  These agencies affect women and their families in many ways. 
Child and Elder Care Agencies will feel the cuts profoundly.  This is a time when too few Floridians have
health care and now it apprears that even fewer will have health care in the coming months.  Be sure to let
your representative know you support their service to the people of Florida.  Remind them that all People, no matter what their financial standing is, should have a quality of life that meets America’s Standards. 

Next, go to BPW Public Policy Yahoo! Group and request membership in this State Wide BPWFL Yahoo! group.  I will be sending updates regularly on State and National Issues.  Once you begin the conversation with your representatives, it will become easier to contact them.  And, when March comes and we all converge on Tallahassee, how wonderful it will be to have that appointment already set up.  And ,you will be well advised on the issues you are most concerned about.  So, let the conversation begin. 

Christine Weigle

The information below is included in the Public Policy Update for the 2007-2008 Mid Year Conference.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Who Gets Breast Cancer and Who Survives?

By Hallie Levine Sklar
We're starting to know the answers -- and some of them may shock you. Read on to find out if you're at risk.
After a few decades of focused research and awareness campaigns, it's true that breast cancer isn't the death sentence it used to be -- mortality rates in the United States are currently 24 percent lower than they were just 17 years ago, thanks in large part to recent advancements in diagnostic and treatment tools. But along with this influx of knowledge have come some scary realizations: Not only do scientists now know who's most likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, they can also predict who's most likely not to survive it. Read on for the raw clarity of what we know now about breast cancer.

Young Women Who Get Breast Cancer Are More Likely to Die
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer before age 40 have slightly poorer prognoses than older women: Their five-year survival rate is about 82 percent, compared with 85 percent among women ages 40 to 74, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Why? "Younger women are more likely to have more aggressive tumors," explains Lisa Carey, M.D., medical director of the University of North Carolina Breast Center.

Younger women also tend to have denser breast tissue, which makes it harder for mammograms to detect tumors. That said, these women usually don't get annual mammograms (the ACS recommends yearly screenings beginning at 40), so cases often aren't caught until the woman herself notices a lump -- by which time the cancer is often more advanced. Even then, she's likely to be blown off by her physician. "It's common for a 28-year-old to show her doctor a lump, only to have him say, 'You're too young to have breast cancer,'" warns Lillie Shockney, administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center.

While you can't control the age at which breast cancer strikes, you can take steps to up your odds of diagnosing it early, which in turn ups your odds of beating it. For starters, if you have a family history of the disease, begin screening 10 years earlier than the age at which your relative was diagnosed, says Shockney. If possible, go to a facility that offers digital mammography, which has higher detection rates than standard mammography in women under age 50, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). If you have a strong family history of the disease -- two or more first-degree family members, like your mom or sister, have been diagnosed -- ask your doctor about more specific diagnostic tests like BRCA gene testing, which looks for hereditary gene mutations that are linked with breast cancer. And know that even if you don't have breast cancer in your immediate family, you may still be at risk if you have relatives with hormone-driven cancers like prostate or ovarian cancer, which are also linked to BRCA gene mutations.

Regardless of your age or family history, have an annual clinical breast exam and do a monthly self-exam. If you do find a lump, don't panic -- about 80 percent of biopsied breast lumps are benign. But do call your ob/gyn right away to discuss further testing. And if he says you're too young to worry, tell him you're too young not to -- and find another doctor.

S.459
Title: A bill to require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.
Sponsor: Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] (introduced 1/31/2007)      Cosponsors (18)
Related Bills: H.R.119, H.R.758
Latest Major Action: 1/31/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

COSPONSORS(18), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

H.R.119
Title: To require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.
Sponsor: Rep Davis, Jo Ann [VA-1] (introduced 1/4/2007)      Cosponsors (23)
Related Bills: H.R.758, S.459
Latest Major Action: 5/9/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

COSPONSORS(23), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

Breastfeeding in Public The good, the bad,
and how you can help ensure your rights.

In the United States and around the word, there continue to be unfortunate situations in which nursing mothers are told they cannot breastfeed in public. Often times, nursing mothers are wrongly asked to retreat to a more private place in order to breastfed.
The good news about breastfeeding in public is that in the United States, women are gaining more breastfeeding rights. In 1998, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (a Democrat from New York) introduced legislation (The Right to Breastfeed Act, H.R. 1848) to protect a woman's right to breastfeed on federal property where she and her child have a right to be. The bill was signed into law on Sept. 28, 1999 when President Clinton signed the Treasury Postal Appropriations bill, which included Rep. Maloney's Right to Breastfeed Act.

"It is a shame that we need this law to protect such a natural choice, but women were being harassed, told to leave national parks and museums and intimidated off of federal grounds simply for breastfeeding," said Rep. Maloney. "Until now, women had no recourse."

H.R.2236
Title: To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding by new mothers; to provide for a performance standard for breast pumps; and to provide tax incentives to encourage breastfeeding.
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 5/9/2007)      Cosponsors (19)
Latest Major Action: 7/17/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

COSPONSORS(19), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

 Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination

The right of employees to be free from discrimination in their compensation is protected under several federal laws, including the following enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. It is job content, not job titles, that determines whether jobs are substantially equal. Specifically, the EPA provides:
Employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment. Each of these factors is summarized below:
Skill    Effort    Responsibility  Working Conditions   
Pay differentials are permitted when they are based on seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex. These are known as "affirmative defenses" and it is the employer's burden to prove that they apply.
In correcting a pay differential, no employee's pay may be reduced. Instead, the pay of the lower paid employee(s) must be increased.
H.R.2831 DISCRIMINATION IN COMPENSATION BECAUSE OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN.
Title: To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Miller, George [CA-7] (introduced 6/22/2007)      Cosponsors (93)
Related Bills: H.RES.579
Latest Major Action: 8/2/2007 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 325.
House Reports: 110-237

COSPONSORS(93), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

S.1843
Title: A bill to amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to clarify that an unlawful practice occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 7/20/2007)      Cosponsors (25)
Latest Major Action: 7/20/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

COSPONSORS(25), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

Special Session Rescheduled:
New PIP Law is Gaining Momentum and You Can Help

Legislative leaders announced late last week that they have rescheduled the budget-cutting special session for October 3. PIP and no-fault insurance laws sunset on October 1, but the movement to pass new legislation during the special session is gaining momentum.
A bi-partisan group of legislators has been actively working to build consensus on either reform legislation or a one-year extension of the existing law. And Governor Crist held a day-long summit last week to try to develop a consensus solution.
In spite of all this, legislative leaders have still not said they will expand the special session to address PIP.
If PIP is allowed to sunset:

• Drivers are at greater risk of financial hardship after an accident;
• Hospitals and health care workers are unsure how they'll cover the costs of treating uninsured accident victims; and
• It's estimated that more than 2 million additional uninsured drivers will be on Florida's roads.

You can help Governor Crist and the bipartisan group of lawmakers who are trying to do the right thing.
Email Your Legislators
Contact your senator and state representative and tell them you want them to address PIP during the fall special session. Urge them to pressure legislative leadership to expand the scope of the special session. Email Your Legislators

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/

TAX AND BUDGET REFORM COMMISSION--PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Introduce yourself and summarize your business—product or service and number of employees, etc.
2. Thank these volunteer commissioners for giving their time to help improve our state’s tax system and budget structure.
3. Remind them that Florida, while a relatively low tax state overall, is not a low tax state for business and this is particularly so with respect to other states in the Southeast. (The Florida Chamber can provide them details of studies done on this point.)
4. Remind them that business pays 1/3 of the property taxes in Florida (homeowners pay 1/3 and non-homestead residential property pays 1/3) and business’ share of this property tax burden has grown in recent years because of Save Our Homes.
5. Remind them that the property tax efforts of the 2007 session will primarily help homeowners, not business owners.
6. Tell them that business needs relief with respect to the level of property taxation, but business also needs a more level playing field when challenging their property tax assessments.
7. Specifically, the deck is stacked today in favor of the property appraisers and a taxpayer who elects to challenge an assessment has to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that the property appraiser is incorrect. This is equivalent to the burden of proof in fraud cases. We need a burden of proof based on a simple preponderance of the evidence—just like other civil cases.
8. The Value Adjustment Board process for challenging property tax assessments is broken. We need uniform, easy to understand procedures throughout the state and the Department of Revenue needs to enforce them when local governments go astray.
9. Taxpayers who have to go through this process of challenging their assessments should win attorneys fees if they prevail in the proceeding. And, since they have to pay interest on underpayments of tax when they lose, they should be entitled to interest on refunds of tax they paid if they win.
10. Finally, we have heard some discussion about this group reviving the old sales tax on services and automatically repealing existing exemptions from the sales tax. Please do not put into the Florida Constitution any provision that lets a tax come into place automatically without a vote of the elected officials we sent to Tallahassee to represent us.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT SINKS IN LEGISLATIVE TIDE
[SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]                                                             
St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.     Rebecca Catalanello,   May 2, 2007

``Rubio ends an annual ritual by ignoring bill.
Thirty-five years after the women's rights movement reached a fever pitch with a constitutional amendment to guarantee women equal protection under the law, the Florida House won't give the notion the time of day.
Literally.  Every year since 2003, female Democrats on both sides of the Legislature have filed bills to support Florida's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
House Speaker Marco Rubio is the first leader in that period to decline to refer it to a committee - the first step toward helping a bill become law.
Out of 2,520 bills filed this session, only 25 were not referred to a committee, not including ceremonial resolutions containing no substantive legislation. Of those not referred, only seven were in the House and the one titled "Equal Rights for Men and Women" was among them.
"If we can have a state pie, why can't you affirm your belief that we are all created equal?" said Sen. Alex Villalobos of Miami, one of the most vocal Republicans favoring the legislation.
The ERA passed Congress overwhelmingly in 1972 and was later ratified by 35 states, three short of the 38 needed to amend the Constitution. The key provision of the 52-word amendment states that, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, said the measure is unnecessary. "It's anachronistic," she said. "It's circa 1970. You're talking to a Florida female senator who's here, who's equal, who's achieved parity with men."
But those pushing ratification say continued gender inequities like the pay gap call for the kind of accountability a constitutional amendment brings.                            Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.
BY THE NUMBERS
28 Number of committees the ERA ratification bill has been referred to in both branches of the Legislature since 2003.
1 Number of committees in the Legislature that have actually heard the bill since 2003.
2,520 Number of bills filed in the Legislature this year.
25 Number of substantive bills that haven't gotten any committee assignment this session.
1972 Year Congress approved the ERA, subject to ratification by the states.
35 Number of states that have ratified the ERA.
3 Number of states still needed for the Constitution to be amended to include the ERA.
77 cents What the U.S. census says is the median figure representing what women made to every dollar men made in full-time employment in 2002.

Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, said the measure is unnecessary. "It's anachronistic," she said. "It's circa 1970. You're talking to a Florida female senator who's here, who's equal, who's achieved parity with men."
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
The Honorable Marco Rubio, Speaker
speaker@myfloridahouse.gov           Florida House of Representatives
420 The Capitol
                                                            402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
General Writing Tips

	Type or print legibly. Sign your name neatly and give your address correctly so the Speaker can respond to your letter.
	Keep your letters brief. Never write more than one page. Concise written correspondence is more likely to grab and keep the reader's attention.
	Identify your issue or opinion at the beginning of the letter, don't bury your main point under trivial text.
	Cover only one issue per letter. If you have another issue to address, write another letter.
	Back up your opinions with supporting facts. Your letter should inform the reader.
	Avoid abbreviations or acronyms, and don't use technical jargon. Rather than impressing your reader, such terms will only frustrate him or her.
	Make sure you understand the legislative process. Even the most basic understanding of the process will help you effectively express your ideas.
	Contact the Speaker about a particular issue before the Legislature takes action on it. Most matters coming before the Legislature are well publicized before session.
	Use a variety of communication methods. You might choose to telephone, write, e-mail, fax, or visit the Speaker.
	You might also choose to give testimony at public hearings held by the Legislature. (To give testimony, you would need to contact the appropriate committee.)
	Tell the Speaker what effect you think a particular bill, if it becomes law, will have on you, your children, business, or community. Be concise, but specific.
	Be polite, even if you disagree strongly with the Speaker. Your communication will be more effective if you are reasonable in your approach.
	Suggest a course of action and offer assistance. Don't make promises or threats.