Hi John,

I’ve put off writing this newsletter for as long as possible, but I’ve gotten to the point where I either sit down and write this or it won’t get sent out. So, here goes: this will be my last newsletter for the National Women’s Law Center. In the fall, I’m heading off to law school (guess it’s time to finally learn all those legal terms after all!).

I’ve thought a lot about what I wanted to say to you all, since this community has meant so much to me during my time at NWLC. And after all that thinking, what I came up with is: thank you.

Thank you for being a part of the NWLC community. Thank you for taking our actions—they make a difference, I promise. Thank you for sending random notes to me; I’ve read them all and without fail they make my day. Thank you for all you’re doing in your communities to fight for gender justice. Thank you for bearing with my puns and bad jokes (or at least not saying anything to me about them). Thank you for letting me talk about my dog an excessive amount for an organizational newsletter. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes who helps this newsletter come together. Really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

While I usually hate change (it’s hard! It sucks!), this is a change I’m excited about because I know this newsletter will be in excellent hands. Our Writer/Editor LySaundra Cambell will be taking over. She’s already done an incredible job infusing great takes on culture to our blog and is never afraid of saying what needs to be said. I’m sure you’ll love her writing as much as I already do.

She’ll start with our next newsletter, but until then here’s one more edition of all the gender justice news you need, sprinkled with all the puns you didn’t.

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS
I’m just (a lot of) bills on Capitol Hill.

Let’s just get it out of the way: there are a LOT of COVID relief packages being considered in Congress right now. It can be confusing—but it’s also super important (that extra $600 per week for people on unemployment? The one that was keeping people out of poverty? Congress just let it lapse). So let’s figure it out together.

The Senate’s COVID “relief” package: We probably need to stop calling them relief bills, based on what the GOP-controlled Senate put forth last week.

Here’s what the Senate bill would do:

• Protect employers who fail to protect their employees and the public from COVID by getting rid of any liability issues.
• Cut unemployment benefits by $400 per week.
• Force student loan borrowers to resume paying off federal student loans.
• Punish schools that choose to remain physically closed for the safety of their students and staff.

Here’s what the Senate bill wouldn’t do:

• Do anything to meaningfully increase access to health care….during a once-in-a-century pandemic. 🙄 Seriously though, this bill doesn’t: guarantee free COVID-19 treatment, require a special ACA enrollment period, help support state Medicaid programs. It doesn’t really do...anything about health care during a public health crisis. Interesting.
• Protect people experiencing unemployment.
• Provide the $50 billion our child care system needs just to survive this crisis.
• Protect front-line workers, the majority of whom are women. 😑

In short: their plan puts the burden of the pandemic onto working class families and women. Instead of investing in solutions to the roots and symptoms of COVID-19, the Senate’s package prioritizes businesses and the wealthy. Let’s hope whatever Congress winds up passing prioritizes the people who are hurting the most instead of the other way around.

WHAT ABOUT CHILD CARE?
You know, that thing that’s the foundation of our entire economy?

Last week the House passed two child care bills. Together, they would represent the largest investment in the child care system in the United States since World War II. I’m trying to think of anything else that would be the biggest update since World War II. Maybe if we started producing a ton of abacuses now, we could produce the largest amount of abacuses since World War II? All I know: this is HUGE.

The bills would invest $50 billion into the states to keep child care businesses afloat and keep costs affordable for families during the crisis as well as providing longer-term investments in our child care system. The child care industry is women-led (and particularly led by women of color), and it’s far past time our society stops taking it for granted.

• Take action: The House has passed this legislation, now the Senate needs to as well! Tell the Senate to take action to support the child care industry and everyone who relies on it now.

FEATURED: What’s your agenda? [CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL VIOLENCE]

The National Women’s Law Center, alongside some other fantastic organizations, has created a multi-racial, survivor-led collective called the Survivor’s Agenda. The Survivors’ Agenda believes survivors should be the ones shaping the national conversation on sexual violence, and that’s why they’re creating the first crowd-sourced agenda on how to build power among survivors of sexual violence.

How can you be a part of this movement?

👉If you identify as a survivor or have experienced any form of sexual violence or harassment, take the survey to share what’s on your agenda.
👉Host a kitchen table conversation to bring even more people into the discussion. And yes, we have a toolkit on how to do it!
👉Stay tuned for a virtual Survivors’ Summit at the end of September where survivors, allies, and advocates will come together to build power and take action to change the culture around sexual violence.

Must-Dos:

• Last month we sued the Trump administration for encouraging discrimination by health care providers, hospitals, and insurance companies. But we couldn’t have done it without Darren, who is one of our clients in the case after being discriminated against because of his transgender identity. Send him a message of encouragement as he takes on the Trump administration!

Must-Reads:
Compiled again by our incredible intern, Maddie Sells! Should we start calling this section Maddie Tells? No? Just me? Okay.

• (Some) classes may be going online this coming fall, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to ignore the sexism, racism, and sizeism embedded in dress code policies. TikTokers are weighing in on the issue, check out this Buzzfeed article about the viral Tiktoks calling out the discrimination demonstrated in school dress codes.
• When’s the last time you got a raise? As wages remain stagnant, the wage gap continues to grow and disproportionately affect women of color. Refinery29 breaks it all down and shares the stories of different low-wage workers, and their struggles to stay afloat.
• Women are in a bind (by our very own Fatima Goss Graves and Rep. Katherine Clark!): “In the month of April alone, the 10 million jobs secured by women since the Great Recession were completely wiped out, and industries staffed primarily by women, like food service and retail, are facing a cataclysmic collapse.”

Feminist Moment of Joy:

Our feminist moment of joy this week is ENTERTAINMENT. Because there's been a lot of amazing news to come out of the entertainment world recently. First up, the Emmy nominations, which are maybe finally starting to be kind of representative of the world around them. Watchmen, a TV show about race and intergenerational trauma, garnered the most nominations overall, with 26 nominations (and as someone who binged it all earlier this summer, WATCH WATCHMEN). Ramy became the first Muslim-American sitcom to be nominated. And Issa Rae’s Insecure continued to dominate.

In other ~entertainment~ news, Netflix announced it’d be bringing a bunch of already aired shows starring Black women, including Sister Sister and Girlfriends.

And that’s it! It’s been so much fun sharing this space and this community with all of you. Here’s one last picture of my dog Willa, since who knows when I'll have the chance to make this many people look at my dog again?

Thank you,
Hannah (and Willa 🐾) Finnie
she/her/hers
Senior Manager of Campaign and Digital Strategies
National Women’s Law Center