Dear Tori Poppenheimer,

1* Minimum wage debate continues in the Senate

2* ERA progress in Arkansas

3* 2007 Policy and Action Conference

4* National Wear Red Day?Get Ready to Go Red!

5* Ceasefire on the "Mommy Wars"

1*The minimum wage debate continues to wage on in the Senate.  The source of debate is whether to attach business tax breaks to the minimum wage bill passed by the House of Representatives.  The House bill would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over two years, and does not include any tax breaks. 

Last week a majority of Senators—54—voted to raise the minimum wage without any tax breaks, but opponents of a clean minimum wage increase filibustered the measure, and it takes 60 votes to end debate on a filibustered bill. Now the Senate will take up a minimum wage bill that includes tax breaks, and it’s expected to pass.

2*A joint resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment has been filed in the Arizona State Legislature.  The joint resolution is being sponsored by State Senator Meg Burton Cahill and State Representative Ed Ableser.  As of today, there are 68 cosponsors of the ratification resolution in the House, with only 51 votes required to pass. In the Senate, there are 11 cosponsors (plus three more pledged votes) thus far, with more expected soon; 18 votes will be needed to pass.

Last week approximately 200 supporters, including members of BPW/Arkansas, filled the rotunda of the State House in Little Rock for an enthusiastic ERA rally.  There were many prominent speakers in attendance including a number of state legislators. 

How you can help:  Encourage your friends and family living in Arkansas to contact their State Senator and Representative!  BPW/USA has created an on-line state advocacy campaign that will allow Arkansas residents to email a letter to their legislators.  Tell a Friend!

3*For those of you who have registered for the Policy and Action Conference, there are still tickets remaining for the BPW/PAC Breakfast and Equal Rights Amendment Dinner!

Two Members of Congress have confirmed to attend the BPW/PAC Breakfast.  They are Congressman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-HI).  Invitations have gone out to all newly elected BPW/PAC endorsed Members of Congress so we are expecting more to attend.  Join us for this celebratory breakfast and support BPW/PAC!

Attend the Equal Right Amendment dinner and hear from authors Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner who co-wrote “Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future”.  They will provide an analysis of the need to keep pursing the ERA, and its importance to women today.  Jennifer and Amy will address how you can get more involved in this fight for equality and how to engage younger women.  They will present information on what people are doing today as examples to inspire your own activism. 

To register for either event, please contact Elisabeth Gehl at egehl@bpwusa.org.

4*Circle this Friday, February 2 in red on your calendars – that’s the fourth annual National Wear Red Day, a day dedicated to building awareness of heart disease as women’s No. 1 killer.  On this day, women (and men!) across the nation will wear red to raise awareness of the risk of heart disease among women.

We hope you’ll use this day as an opportunity to learn more about how to love your heart through the Go Red For Women movement and understand your risk for heart disease by taking the Go Red Heart CheckUp at www.goredforwomen.org.  This comprehensive evaluation of your overall heart health can help you now and in the future.  By knowing your numbers and assessing your risks today, you can work with your doctor to significantly reduce your chances of getting heart disease tomorrow, next year or thirty years from now.  After you take the CheckUp, pass it on to your mother, your daughter, your sister or your friend.  Know your numbers--save a life.

Go Red For Women is the American Heart Association's nationwide movement celebrating the energy, passion and power we have to band together and wipe out heart disease.  Too few people realize that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, but the good news is that heart disease can largely be prevented.  Spreading the Go Red For Women message empowers women to love--and save--their hearts through lifestyle choices and actions.

Help us spread the word and grow the movement!  Please forward this message to all of the hearts you love!

5*All Across America  – MOTHERS demand a CEASEFIRE in the so-called “mommy wars”! Women are NOT at war with each other. It's time for the media to stop promoting the fiction that American mothers are somehow engaged in a "mommy war" between mothers who work for pay and those who don't.
MOTHERS – MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org – an all-volunteer grassroots initiative dedicated to promoting the economic security of women and their families, challenges the media to give up this make-believe conflict and focus on the solutions to the issues all mothers face.

You can help:

Sign our CEASEFIRE Petition – Click here and sign our petition (hosted jointly with MomsRising).

Support our CEASEFIRE Action – Help us spread the word by telling others about this effort. Click here for a link to send our message out. 

Learn More – This isn't a playground and we don't have to choose sides. The truth is there are no sides and no real choices.  Now is the time to come together and advocate for recognition of the value of family care giving.

Declare a CEASEFIRE in the “Mommy Wars” today! For more information on CEASEFIRE and MOTHERS, click here.

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BPW/USA’s Legislative Hotline is a service for BPW members and is updated each week.  If you have any questions or would like additional information about BPW/USA’s policy initiatives please call BPW/USA's Director of Public Policy, Elisabeth Gehl, at 202-777-8962 or email at egehl@bpwusa.org.