Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts

Amy K. Matsui is Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts at the National Women’s Law Center. She works on economic issues affecting low- and moderate-income women and families, with special emphasis on federal and state tax policy and women’s retirement security. Her work with retirement savings policy and federal and state tax credits for working families comprises policy analysis, federal advocacy, and public education and outreach. She also directs the Center's advocacy efforts around federal judicial nominations and diversity in the federal judiciary. Ms. Matsui has worked at the Center since 2002. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Matsui practiced commercial law in the private sector. She clerked for the Honorable Carolyn Dineen King, then-Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2000. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford Law School.

Expert in: Tax Credits Outreach, Judicial Nominations, Family Tax Credits, Social Security, Supreme Court, Judges & the Courts, Social Security & Retirement
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My Take

Showdown on Senate Obstruction of Judges Is Coming: Stay Tuned

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts | Posted on: February 08, 2012 at 02:13 pm

Yesterday it was reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a package of judicial and/or executive branch nominees for a Senate vote at the end of next week, before the Senate’s week-long President’s Day recess begins. Why is this such big news? Well, the Senate has only confirmed one judicial nominee in 2012. This, despite the fact that there are 86 judicial vacancies, of which 33 have been deemed judicial emergencies. And there are 19 nominees who are waiting for a Senate vote, some who have been cooling their heels for months.

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Obstruction Has a Name, and It’s Senator Mike Lee

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts | Posted on: January 30, 2012 at 04:22 pm

Even for the most dedicated political nerd, the twists and turns of Senate process can be opaque. When is a failed cloture petition a filibuster? Who objected to the unanimous consent request? Why did everyone agree to two hours of debate when they’re just going to fill them up with quorum calls? And don’t get me started on secret holds.

In contrast, Utah Senator Mike Lee has forthrightly owned up to his recent decision to block all judicial and executive branch nominations. Senator Lee said, flat-out, last week, “I find myself duty-bound to resist the consideration and approval of additional nominations.” (Senator Lee made clear that this blockade is in protest of President Obama’s recess appointments of Richard Cordray and three NLRB commissioners).

Unfortunately, the action that Senator Lee is helpfully owning up to is one of devastating scope and wide-ranging impact.

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Did You Know? Today is EITC Awareness Day

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts | Posted on: January 27, 2012 at 11:29 am

You may have already received your W-2 in the mail from your employer, which means (drum roll please!) the 2012 tax filing season is officially underway. In the spirit of the season, so to speak, the IRS is kicking things off with EITC Awareness Day. In case you aren’t familiar with the EITC, aka the Earned Income Tax Credit, it is a refundable federal tax credit for working families that can be worth up to $5,751 for tax year 2011 (the year for which you’ll be filing your taxes now, in 2012). Along with the federal Child Tax Credit (a refundable credit worth up to $1,000 per child) and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (a nonrefundable credit that helps families with child and dependent care costs incurred in order to work or look for work), as well as analogous state tax credits, the EITC can provide working families a significant financial boost.  And in these tough economic times, families need all the help they can get.

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Women in Maryland: Learn More About the Judicial Selection Process

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts | Posted on: January 26, 2012 at 02:46 pm

As you might have gathered by now, we at NWLC care deeply about increasing women’s representation in the judiciary. So we wanted to make sure that women lawyers in Maryland know about an event that will educate them about the judicial selection process.

The National Association of Women Judges and the Maryland lawyer chapter of ACS are offering a training today in Baltimore. Details are below. To register, email District 4 NAWJ Director Claudia Barber at claudiaabarber@aol.com and/or call (202) 724-5474.


The Maryland Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the National Association of Women Judges present:
Training Women Lawyers About the Judicial Selection Process
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Turning Over an Old Leaf: the Senate Edition

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts | Posted on: January 23, 2012 at 07:34 pm

Today is the Lunar New Year, the beginning of the Year of the Dragon – considered the luckiest year in the Chinese zodiac. 
 

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