NWLC Responds to President Obama's State of the Union Address

(Washington, D.C.) In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama laid out an important economic agenda for women and their families that would advance equality and opportunity.

“The National Women’s Law Center thanks President Obama for his commitment to women and their families,” said Nancy Duff Campbell, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “The State of Union address laid out an important economic agenda for women and families – expanding early education opportunities, advancing fair tax and budget policies, increasing the federal minimum wage, and passing both the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Violence Against Women Act.”

During his address, President Obama proposed:

• Expanding early education opportunities: President Obama’s early childhood initiative would expand access to critical early learning opportunities for millions of preschool-age and young children across the country. This would help many low- and middle-income women and their families who are struggling to afford the early learning opportunities that put their children on a path to success.
• Advancing fair tax and budget policies: President Obama called on Congress to pass a budget that replaces reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future. This is especially important to women, because millions of hard-working women are struggling to lift their families out of poverty and cuts in funding for public services have cost women hundreds of thousands of jobs. We also need a tax system that fairly raises the revenue required to make these wise investments and stave off deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs women and their families count on.
• Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act: President Obama called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The wage gap hasn’t budged in decades and millions of women and their families are paying a steep price.  Congress needs to move this critical bill forward, to close loopholes and strengthen our equal pay laws.
• Raising the federal minimum wage: President Obama’s plan to raise the minimum wage would greatly help women, who are two out of every three adult minimum wage workers and don’t earn enough to lift their families out of poverty. It’s time for Congress to increase the minimum wage – and give women a raise.
• Passing the Violence Against Women Act: The House should quickly pass the Senate bill reauthorizing and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act (S.47).

“President Obama laid out a strong agenda last night,” NWLC Co-President Marcia D. Greenberger said, “but we also can’t forget the most important part of the address – that we are all in this together. President Obama made it crystal clear that while it is his job to report on the state of the union, we all share the job of moving this great nation forward.”

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