November 24, 2021


With so much at stake for women and for equality, Ms. will be reporting on policy initiatives and progress within Congress and the Biden-Harris administration—as well as tracking the backlash to equality. Every Wednesday, we will keep you updated, informed and ready to push forward!


House Passes the Historic Build Back Better Act: “A Giant Step Forward” [[link removed]]

BY KATHY SPILLAR | On Friday, the House passed President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act—the largest expansion of the U.S. social safety net since the 1960s. The bill includes elements that feminists have worked literally decades for:
* Historic investments
in
child
care,
paid
family
and
medical
leave;
*
Universal
pre-kindergarten
for
every
3-
and
4-year-old
in
the
country;
and
*
An
extension
of
the
child
tax
credit
that
has
already
cut
child
poverty
in
half
this
year.
Additionally, the BBB expands the Pell Grants program for college, and makes significant investments in fighting climate change.
The bill, which passed largely along party lines 220 to 213, represents “a giant step forward,” said President Biden in a statement. “Above all, it puts us on the path to build our economy back better than before by rebuilding the backbone of America: working people and the middle class.”
Now the legislation moves to the Senate where the paid leave provision has been a sticking point for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Recent polling from Global Strategy Group and the Paid Leave for All Campaign [[link removed]] documents that majorities of voters want paid leave included in Build Back Better, particularly voters living in battleground states. This support extends to one key demographic—suburban women, who were called a “​​must-win audience in the wake of Virginia’s elections” in a memo attached to the poll.
( To read more, click here. [[link removed]] )


Read More
Investing in Social Infrastructure Provides a Recovery Path for All—But Especially Low-Income Families [[link removed]]

Michigan Lawmakers End the Tampon Tax: The Case for Bipartisan Period Legislation [[link removed]]

First Federal Legislation on Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Reintroduced in Congress: “No More Silence, No More Complacency” [[link removed]]

Three Actions You Can Take to Accelerate Action on Climate Change [[link removed]]

What we're reading
We know it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. That's why going forward, we'll provide a weekly roundup of the stories we think are important that Ms. may not have covered. Here's what we're reading this week:

"Librarians are resisting censorship of children’s books by LGBTQ+ and Black authors” — The 19th [[link removed]]
"Independent Abortion Clinics Are The Backbone of Reproductive Care in America" — Jezebel [[link removed]]
"This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later." — The Washington Post [[link removed]]
"What Paternity Leave Does for a Father’s Brain" — The New York Times [[link removed]]
"‘I went home and cried’: US employers offer few protections for pregnant workers” — The Guardian [[link removed]]

[[link removed]]
Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
As the December oral arguments date for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case fast approaches, all eyes are on the Supreme Court. But we’re wondering — what’s happening at the on the ground, at clinics that provide abortions and reproductive health services where persistent, even daily violence against patients and providers goes overlooked and under-addressed?
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!



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