NEW YORK — November 22, 2022: In recognition of the historic election of New York’s first woman governor, thanks to turnout from women across the state, New York women’s organizations and female elected officials including Planned Parenthood, today laid out their vision for a women’s economic agenda in the Governor’s coming term. Speakers highlighted the need for strong and sustained state investment in childcare, home care, pay equity, reproductive justice and maternal care, as well as ending the criminalization of Black girls and passing the inclusive NYS Equal Rights Amendment.

Watch footage of the full press conference here: https://www.facebook.com/NYSPowHER/videos/700009347952884/

Governor Hochul’s first full term can make a pivotal difference in the lives and economic well-being of New York women, especially women and girls of color. Her priorities need to advance  a caring economy, good-paying jobs, a lower cost of living, women’s maternal health and bodily autonomy, rights and opportunities for girls, and an equitable economic recovery for New York’s ten million women. The vision presented sees the Governor acting to address longstanding gender and racially based discrimination, and set a path for inclusive gender justice.

Speakers called for a Women’s Economic Agenda, including the following state budget investments and legislation:

Fund Universal Childcare:

• Pass and fully fund universal childcare
• Make child care assistance available to parents working fluctuating and part-time hours (A7661/S6655-A)
• Pass 24-month child care eligibility (A10209-A/S9029)
• Establish a short-term workforce compensation fund to raise child care worker wages by at least $12,500/year while building a long-term solution
• Provide child care assistance to all immigrant families

Fund Fair Pay for Home Care:

• Pass Fair Pay for Home Care (S5374/A6329)

Fund Reproductive Justice & Maternal Care:

• Pass the NYS Equal Rights Amendment
• Fully fund reproductive justice & maternal care through the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Fund (A10148/S9078)

Deliver Pay Equity:

• Sign NYS Salary Range without amendments (S9427A/A10477)
• Sign Contractor Equal Pay Data Reporting (S2239/A5773)
• End the sub-minimum tipped wage ( A10203/S00808A)
• Raise the wage (S3062D/A7053

End the criminalization of Black girls:

• Pass Solutions Not Suspensions (A5197/ S7198)

Speakers and Partners

• State Senator Nathalia Fernandez
• State Senator Julia Salazar
• State Senator Jessica Ramos
• State Senator Jabari Brisport
• Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas
• Assembly Member Karines Reyes
• Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest
• NYC Council Member Amanda Farías
• NYC Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez
• PowHer New York
• Empire State Campaign for Child Care
• New York Caring Majority
• Planned Parenthood of Greater New York
• Girls for Gender Equity
• MomsRising/MamasConPoder
• Ancient Song
• Human Services Council

QUOTES:

“More than half of the American population became second-class citizens, stripped of their constitutional right to privacy and bodily autonomy, as a result of the decision to overturn Roe,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The Supreme Court turned the clock back nearly 50 years, rescinding for the first time a constitutional right from the American people. The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated and I am grateful that we have New York’s first woman governor and a great leader in Governor Hochul to meet this moment. With Governor Hochul leading our state, New York will remain a safe haven for reproductive rights,” said United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

“As we rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must heed the lessons we learned about the importance of women’s work and the value of the care economy.  We have an opportunity to rebuild our economy ensuring all workers receive the compensation they need to sustain themselves and their families and that we respect the unpaid work that allows our economy to function.  I look forward to working with advocates and my colleagues in the upcoming session to achieve those goals,” said State Senator Shelley Mayer.

“This election cycle ushered in not only the state’s first woman governor but also expanded the number of mothers of young children in the state senate. We have a responsibility to make sure that landmark of representation is reflected in our state budget and in our legislative agendas. Crisis feminizes poverty, and we have an opportunity now to build resilient communities by doubling down on the historic investments we made last year in child care, equitable wages, and comprehensive health care,” said State Senator Jessica Ramos.

“Through our seen and unseen labor, women have long been sustaining New York’s economy while bearing the burdens of inequality. As we approach the new legislative session, Governor Hochul and the legislature must pursue and implement this comprehensive agenda for economic and gender justice together. The future of our state depends on our ability to deliver pay equity across the care and service sectors, universal childcare without exceptions, and a fully inclusive Equal Rights Amendment,” said State Senator Julia Salazar.

“Over the past few years, we have seen the cost of living for families drastically increase, and the most vulnerable communities severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we approach the start of a new term in the New York State Legislature, it is vital that we prioritize significant investment in initiatives that support children, maternal care, and the most disproportionately impacted communities in our state. We must ensure that universal childcare is fully-funded, homecare workers are paid a living wage, and the cost of medical care is brought down. As the chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus, I look forward to working with Governor Hochul on these initiatives as she is uniquely positioned to support our agenda as the first woman elected to serve as the governor of our state,” said Assembly Member Michaelle C. Solages.

“I’m proud to stand with other women in the New York State legislature and several women’s rights organizations today to call for the passage of this Women’s Agenda during our next legislative session. Young women, women of color, and women across our state turned out to vote during this last general election. It is because of this mobilization that we really only saw a ripple and not a red wave. Now it is time for our state legislature and our Governor to stand with the women who have stood with them. I join the call for the passage of this package, including two of my bills to end the subminimum wage for restaurant tipped workers, and to codify and establish the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Fund with Senator Cordell Cleare, which will ensure that all women can get abortion care in New York State. It’s time to show our girl power and get them done,” said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas.

“We stand unified and proud with the first elected woman to serve as Governor of our great State of New York.  As the sponsor of the Equality Amendment, I look forward to advancing the women’s equity and care agenda.  We are a stronger state when we invest in the over ten million New York women with childcare, homecare, pay equity, reproductive justice and maternal care,” said Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright.

“I urge Governor Hochul to deliver a bold women’s equity and care agenda next year. That means reproductive justice, universal childcare, Fair Pay for Home Care, and so many of the other common sense measures that women and caregiving families need. Women in the legislature are ready to partner with the Governor to ensure that her first full term can make a pivotal difference in the lives and economic well-being of New York women, especially women and girls of color,” said Assembly Member Karines Reyes.

“It may have taken 227 years, but New York State has finally elected its first woman governor: Kathy Hochul,” said Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal. “However, as we bask in the glow of our collective victory, we have a long way to go in the march toward equality. With women’s rights on the chopping block across the country, New York must act as a bulwark against national extremism and anti-choice legislation by prioritizing the passage of comprehensive childcare, abortion protections and equal pay. Next session, I look forward to working with my colleagues and advocates to ensure that we do everything possible to lift up the voices of women and young girls in the halls of Albany and throughout our great state.”

“For the first time, we are seeing women at the helm of leadership not just in our city but also our state,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “With Kathy Hochul being elected the first female Governor of New York, we have a partner in Albany who will fight for the issues impacting women and girls across our state. I am excited to see childcare, domestic and gender-based violence, maternal health, pay equity, reproductive justice, and other systemic barriers to achieving gender equity and fairness at the forefront of our local and state agendas like never before. Thank you to PowHer New York, Empire State Campaign for Child Care, New York Caring Majority, and Girls for Gender Equity for your advocacy, and I look forward to working with all of you and our newly elected Governor to make New York a more gender inclusive state for all of our residents and families.”

“Like so many other members of New York City’s first female majority City Council, I ran on a feminist platform. I’m proud we have elected our first female governor, but we need to ensure her first full term is one that champions feminist economic policy, not just representation,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “A feminist state is not just one that is governed by women, but a government that is fundamentally committed to the politics of care. That means passing universal childcare, fair pay for home workers, protecting our reproductive freedom, and raising the minimum wage. These are sound economic policies based  on the feminist principles of collective liberation. Kathy Hochul has the chance to make more than just history in New York, she has the chance to make a real impact in people’s lives and she has allies in the legislature waiting to make it happen.”

“As a vocal champion of New York’s women, Governor Hochul has a critical opportunity to lift up home care workers — a sector that is overwhelmingly low-income women of color. In her coming term, the Governor must take immediate steps to end the state’s dangerous home care shortage by paying workers a fair wage. In this year’s budget, with the support of a bipartisan coalition of legislators from across the state, we took an important first step toward ending the home care shortage by raising home care wages $3 — but this investment falls short of ending the home care crisis. In the coming term, Governor Hochul must end New York’s home care shortage, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and support aging adults and disabled people by paying home care workers a fair wage,” said Rachel McCullough, Co-Director of New York Caring Majority and Political Director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ).

“Access to quality child care is essential for women and families’ economic security, for the achievement of racial and gender equity, and, can no longer be ignored. We join with all those who are ready to fight to prioritize the Care Economy in the 2023 budget and all future budgets. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us,” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director of the Alliance for Quality Education, member of Empire State Campaign for Child Care.

“PowHer New York celebrates the truly historic election of Governor Kathy Hochul.  Since 1777 when the first governor of New York was elected until 2022, no woman has held that position. Having waited too long to see representation in Albany, we urge the governor to act boldly to advance a Women’s Equity and Care Agenda so that women and families can thrive, not just survive,” said Beverly Neufeld, President of PowHer New York. “One important step is to stop gender and racial wage discrimination by signing into law the NYS Salary Range bill.  Jobseekers across the state need salary information at the start of the hiring process to avoid bias in wage setting and to create equity and opportunity for economic security.”

“MomsRising congratulates Gov. Hochul on making history as the first woman elected as governor of New York. We look forward to working with her to improve women’s health and build the kind of care infrastructure every New Yorker needs,” said Monifa Bandele, Chief Strategy Officer at MomsRising. “New York is facing a child care crisis and only a significant state investment that puts us closer to achieving universal, affordable child care will put our state on solid financial footing and make it possible for families, businesses and our economy to thrive. And we are looking to Gov. Hochul to protect undocumented families, who strengthen our communities, and to invest in better maternal and reproductive health care that will end the disparities that put so many Black moms and other moms of color at risk. Our state will only succeed if we all have access to quality reproductive health care.”