Reggie Oldak, Senior Counsel and Director of Government Relations

by Reggie Oldak, Senior Counsel,
National Women's Law Center

My father owned a small business. So I grew up understanding the difficulties and pressures small businesses face: hiring, retention, the high cost of providing benefits, the need for investments in equipment or inventory, for example.

But I don’t understand claims that the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200), now being considered in the House, will hurt small business. Yes, small businesses have a hard time finding affordable health insurance for their employees. That’s why the bill includes insurance market reforms that will reduce costs for small businesses and a new tax credit for very small businesses to help them offer coverage. So, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (predictably) rants against the bill, local Chambers aren’t falling into line.

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce is taking a very different stance from the U.S. Chamber. Recognizing that women face special challenges in securing affordable health care, it urges Congress to take “swift and strong action” to reform the American health care system to provide “guaranteed, affordable, quality health care without discrimination,” including a “robust government-led public plan to take on the insurance carriers.”

by Reggie Oldak, Senior Counsel
National Women's Law Center

The Center for American Progress has a task force on poverty with the goal of cutting poverty in half in 10 years.  In the United Kingdom, they’re way ahead of us.

Tackling child poverty (and, by extension, poverty among single mothers) is high on the agenda in the UK. Almost ten years ago, the UK committed to ending child poverty by 2020. They encourage work for those who can work, and provide security for those who can’t. The national goal focused the attention of people in and out of government, and the goal itself is credited for the UK’s dramatic progress. Between 1998 and 2005, the number of children in poverty fell by 600,000 in the UK – using the UK’s measure of relative poverty. By US measures, child poverty in the UK fell even more. 

The UK directly invests in financial support for families, beginning with statutory maternity pay for nine months. Yes, they pay mothers after the birth of a child, with no limit to the number of children.  Then, they make work possible with a significant investment in childcare – including a commitment to both a Children’s Centre (child care) in every community and wrap around day care in every school by 2010 – and they make work pay – with a national minimum wage that is higher than ours and tax credits for workers. To top it all off, they have instituted improved work/life balance measures, including the right to request flexible work schedules for parents with children under 6.