Catherine's blog

Our friends at Legal Momentum - a legal advocacy group working on women's issues - have just released a new book that celebrates women's achievements. It's called Women: A Celebration of Strength and believe it or not it’s a pop-up book (but it's not just for kids!).

Today on the front page of the Times is an article on how women politicians are changing the rules of politics by emphasizing the ways that mother- and grandmother-hood has influenced them, presenting their experience as mothers as a key component to their capability as legislators. Read more by clicking here.

Illinois became the first state in the country to authorize universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year olds last week (Georgia and Oklahoma offer preschool for all 4-year olds).

UPDATE: The Senate may vote on this issue within the next 24 hours. Please call your Senators and let them know what you think about linking a hike in the minimum wage to a cut in the estate tax.
BACKGROUND: Just before leaving for their summer recess, the House passed a bill that would raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.25 to $7.25 over three years - but the other provisions in the bill make it very unlikely that it will pass the Senate.

Last week San Francisco passed an ordinance that is a bold step towards providing health care for all city residents. The plan is innovative, since it's not technically insurance - people covered through the plan must receive care in San Francisco through the city's system of public and community clinics and hospitals.

Joan Williams (a leading expert on workplace law and part of the MomsRising.org project) was featured last night on ABC News in a story on workplace discrimination against family caregivers. "Picking on Moms in the Workplace" described the difficulties parents face in balancing the needs of their children and their work obligations.

Debate has been heating up again in DC over the federal minimum wage. Last week a proposed amendment in the Senate to raise the minimum wage from the current $5.15 to $7.25 failed to get 60 votes - but 52 Senators (including 8 Republicans) supported it. In the House, the Appropriations committee (breaking with the Republican leadership) attached a $2.10 hike in the rate to a major spending bill - but now that bill may not see a vote until after the elections.

Just wanted to check in with a quick update from the Take Back America Conference. We previewed the new MomsRising documentary last night to great reviews - and we'll look forward to distributing it through house parties this fall. This morning Senator Clinton spoke to the conference, and highlighted the MomsRising project and the need for family-friendly policies in her speech (see pg 6) - we were thrilled by her support and that she's working on several pieces of legislation that addresss the core goals of MomsRising (children's health care, minimum wage issues).

Last week MomsRising had a great time at the NetSquared conference. I participated in a lively panel on gender and social networking, and Joan was a big hit at one of the conference plenary sessions. Joan taped an interview that should be airing soon on Link TV - we'll update the broadcast schedule when we have it.

MomsRising.org is going to the NetSquared conference next week in San Jose. Joan will be speaking at the plenary Grassroots, Netroots, and the Beginning and End of Politics on Wednesday morning with Amy Goodman and Michael Turk on how her work with MoveOn and MomsRising has changed the way we think about and participate in politics.