Women Work!'s Economic Equity Insider

Women Work! The National Network for Women's Employment

September 11, 2007

In This Issue

Student Aid Expansion Heads to White House

Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act Would Help Women Workers

Advocacy Toolkit: Federal Legislative 101

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Student Aid Expansion Heads to White House

Last week, Congress cleared the way for the most extensive changes to federal student aid programs in over a decade. Shortly after returning from summer recess, representatives to a joint House-Senate conference committee finalized negotiations on the College Cost Reduction Act: legislation that would substantially increase aid to students in need and pay for it by cutting about $20 billion from subsidies to banks and other student loan lending agencies.

The Senate voted 79-12 to approve the conference report on Friday morning. The House followed just hours later with a 292-97 vote in favor of the final legislation.

Click here to see how your Senators voted.

Click here to see how your Representative voted.

The College Cost Reduction Act makes sweeping changes to federal student aid, many of which will help more unemployed and underemployed women access higher education. Among other provisions, the College Cost Reduction Act will:

Cut interest rates on subsidized student loans in half -- from 6.8 to 3.4 percent over four years.
Increase the maximum annual Pell Grant award by $490 in 2008 and by $1,090 over four years.
Allow students to cap repayments of federally backed loans at 15 percent of their discretionary income.
Create a $510 million grant program to help schools that serve minorities retain these students.
Create a $132 million college access challenge grant program which would award nonprofits grants to improve college access and retention.

Despite previous veto threats, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has indicated that the President will sign the College Cost Reduction Act into law. Once signed, most of the changes will take effect October 1^st, 2007.

Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act Would Help Women Workers

The newly introduced Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (S. 1871 and H.R. 2233) would modernize the antiquated Unemployment Insurance program, making the system more responsive to the needs of women and low-income workers. Sponsors include Sens. Kennedy (D-MA), Snowe (R-ME), Rockefeller (D-WV), Warner (D-VA) and Cantwell (D-WA), and Rep. McDermott (D-WA) in the House.

The federal-State Unemployment Insurance (UI) system provides financial assistance to unemployed workers who meet eligibility requirements under State law. For the past several decades the program -- created in 1936 when women comprised a much smaller percentage of the U.S. workforce -- has been criticized as out-of-touch with the needs of our changing economy.

The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act would provide $7 billion in incentives to States who adopt much needed reforms to their UI programs. Many of these reforms would require States to provide more help to unemployed women, including:

providing UI benefits to workers who are only available for part-time work
enabling workers who leave their jobs for compelling family reasons to qualify for UI benefits
considering a worker's most recent work history when determining eligibility for UI benefits.

The Senate version of the bill would also boost UI benefits for unemployed workers who are caring for children.

Your organization or State Affiliate can help support this bill.

Women Work! is partnering with other national organizations to show that women's equity organizations support the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act.

If you represent an organization or a Women Work! State Affiliate, click here to endorse this important legislation for women and their families.

Advocacy Toolkit: Federal Legislative 101

From the drafting of a bill to debate on the House or Senate floor, there are many points in the federal legislative process where advocates can influence Congress' decisions on key issues. But, to be most effective it's important to understand how it all works!

So, just in time for back-to-school, we've developed a refresher for you on the federal legislative process: how a bill becomes a law.

Updated Table of Contents

Advocacy Toolkit Section 2: Federal Legislative 101

Appendix: Federal Legislative Glossary

Visit www.womenwork.org to download earlier installments of the Women Work! Advocacy Toolkit.

What is the Women Work! Advocacy Toolkit?

The Advocacy Toolkit is designed to give Women Work! members all the skills they need to be successful advocates for women's economic justice and equality.

Women Work! will release a new installment of the Advocacy Toolkit in the first Economic Equity Insider of every month until July 2008. Each month, download and print the latest tool - including templates and sample documents you can customize for your own advocacy projects - to produce a complete toolkit. We have also provided a cover and a table of contents that will be updated each month as we add new tools to the toolkit.