November 2008, Vol. 54 No. 2
Tuesday, December 16, 7:30 pm - Branch meeting at Jan Lofutus's home. It will be our annual holiday books and cookie exchange. Come prepared to talk about your favorite books. The cookie exchange is optional.
Saturday, January 17, 11:30 am - 2:00 pm - Joint meeting between AAUW-DC and AAUW-MD.
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 29th annual Women's Legislative Briefing. The event will be held from 12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the University of Maryland at Shady Grove Campus, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. Please note our new location, which will accommodate more people than the previous venue. The Honorable Donna Edwards, newly elected United States Congresswoman, will be the keynote speaker . Our branch is a co-sponsor.
Tuesday, February 17, 7:30 pm - Great Decisions discussion at the Laurel Library. Our branch is a co-sponsor of this series of discussions, which are scheduled for every Tuesday in February and March.
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30 pm - Great Decisions discussion at the Laurel Library.
Thursday, March 19, 6:30 pm - Women's History Month Celebration. We are finalizing plans for a joint meeting with Laurel Business and Professional Women, the Laurel Historical Society, Bowie Soroptimists, and the Bowie Chamber of Commerce.
April 21, 7:30 pm - Branch meeting at Morningside House
May 19, 7:00 pm - Branch meeting and salad supper at Morningside House
June 26-28, 2009 - The 2009 AAUW Convention in St. Louis . Check the convention webpage often for updates. Best Value Registration will open December 1, 2008.
We've had two excellent meetings this fall. At the September meeting, we raised funds for the Education Foundation - the branch has been recognized for its $50 contribution as part of the Foundation's 50th Anniversary Celebration. In October, Skye Anderson gave us new insights into the challenges that the U.S. - and its women military members- are facing in Afghanistan. It was especially timely given the increased focus on Afghanistan during the Presidential campaign. Our next meeting will be December 16. It's always the best meeting of the year. I hope you'll be able to attend.
Eileen
Our branch will be cosponsoring the Great Decisions Series at the Laurel Library every Tuesday in February and March. Great Decisions is a program developed by the Foreign Policy Association. A briefing book and television series (which will be shown at each meeting), serve as the basis for discussion. The briefing book provides historical background, current U.S. policy and alternative policy options, informative maps and detailed graphs, suggested readings and resources, as well as opinion ballots for each topic. .Opinion ballots are tabulated and the results presented in the National Opinion Ballot Report, a representative survey of readers' views on the eight Great Decisions topics. The Report is made available to members of Congress, the White House, the media, concerned citizens and our readers
This year's topics are U.S. and rising powers, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Energy & the global economy, The Arctic, Egypt in the 21st Century, Global food supply, Cuba after Castro, and Universal human rights.
Elaine Franz, our state Public Policy Vice-President, reports that the latest budget cuts amounted to $297 million. The list included 179 reductions ranging from $46 million payment for future state retire health insurance costs that will not be made to a $6,652 cut in building maintenance at Veterans Affairs facilities. The cuts average 2% of agency budgets. Below are some of the cuts you should be aware of.
Health
The department of Health and Mental Hygiene received the largest cut most of which affect the Medicaid program.
$22.3 million - Use special funds for some Medicaid expenses.
$20.7 million - Reductions in the planned increases in Medicaid reimbursement rates for physicians, nursing homes and other medical service providers
$5.9 million - Funding for cancer research, other tobacco-related health programs and transition from tobacco growing to other crops are reduced. The funding comes from Maryland's share of the national tobacco settlement. The money thus saved is applies to the state's share of Medicaid expenses, saving state general funds.
$5.3 million - Eliminate 181 vacant positions throughout the health department.
Higher Education - $25.1 million
$15.6 million - Reduction in state support to the 13 University system institutions. This equates to 1.5%.
$5.6 million Reduction in grants to independent colleges and universities, known as "the Sellinger formula".
$1.3 million - Reductions in need-based scholarships.
$685,000 - Reduction in state support to Morgan State University
$1.0 million - BRAC funding
Local Government - $16.5 million
Among the reductions are $8.2 million Community College Aid.
Human Services - $15.6 million$290,000 - Reduce senior housing programs to reflect historical spending limits. Vacancies, community service initiatives, and public assistance to adults were the other categories.
Department of Education - $15.4 million
$5.3 million - Child Care subsidies
$2.8 million - Reduction in funding for school improvement grants.
$2 million - Delay in implementation of new school assessments.
$500,000 - 5% reduction to contracts for the Child Care resource and referral network and Family Support Centers.
$312,000 - 10% reduction in School breakfast pilot programs, dropping approximately 20 schools from the plan..
Other categories were $20 million - ICC Payment, $20 million - Police and Public Safety,$11.3 million for Business and Economic Development which includes $1 million reduction for stem cell research to $18 million, Environment, Agriculture & Natural Resources, $10.4 million, Tax Administration and Credits - $9.7, and $25 million for others.
No, this is not the end of the cuts. The estimates projected a $513 million shortfall this year and a $1.3 billion problem next year.
Laurel AAUW helped mark the 50th anniversary of the AAUW Educational Foundation. AAUW with a $50 contribution from the branch in response to the Foundation's call for 500 gifts of $50. AAUW received 685 gifts of $50, that's nearly $35,000, to educate women and girls, research barriers to equity and protect the rights of those facing injustice! Our branch was recognized in a messge that was sent our via e-bulletin.
Women as candidates largely did well on Tuesday, picking up seats in Congress and in state houses across the country. In one extreme but noteworthy example, women won a majority of the state senate seats in New Hampshire, making it the first legislative body to be dominated by women in the history of the United States. Seventeen women (13D, 4R) will serve in the U.S. Senate, besting the record of 16 set by the current Congress. This record includes the four women (3D, 1R) who won Senate elections this year, including two incumbents and two challengers. Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) both beat well known incumbents and will join Susan Collins (R-ME), who was re-elected in a rare bright spot for Republicans. Incumbent Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) lost her race to Hagan.
A total of at least 74 women (57D, 17R) will serve in the 111th Congress, setting a new all-time high. Ten new women (8D, 2R) will join the 64 incumbents (49D, 15R) who were reelected, topping the previous record of 71 women set this Congress. The women newcomers include five challengers (4D, 1R) who defeated incumbents and five winners of open seats (4D, 1R). Two women candidates for House seats are in contests that are too close to call: Darcy Burner (D-WA), who is challenging an incumbent, and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), who is seeking an open seat.
Beverly Perdue (D-NC) was the only new woman governor elected in 2008. Perdue joins Christine Gregoire (D-WA), who was re-elected in a rematch of her close race from four years ago, as the only woman to win gubernatorial races this year. With six women governors already safely in office, the total number of women governors in 2009 is eight (5D, 3R).
Coinciding with the anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, AAUW signed on to an amicus brief on a case involving Title VII and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The case of AT&T v. Hulteen, which is before the Supreme Court, will address whether AT&T violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by awarding women retirees smaller pensions because of leave taken during pregnancy before the PDA was passed in 1978. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as other employees with similar abilities or physical limitations.
Over 30,000 have signed the online Every Human Has Rights pledge. This December to mark the Universal Declaration's 60th anniversary. Call on governments around the world to make human rights count in legislation, education and in practice.
The world has made great strides in the past 60 years - but it's not enough. Right now genocide is still taking place. Billions are trapped in lives of poverty and despair. If we are going to meet global challenges like financial and food crises, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, the rights of women, health rights and the rights of children, we need to work together, and demand our leaders adhere to the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.
Visit www.everyhumanhasrights.org, to read the Universal Declaration, and to make a personal pledge to stand up for the rights and freedoms enshrined in it.
The Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund (VGIF) is pleased to announce a Friendship Tour to India and Nepal in November 2009 as part of our celebration of 40 years of funding projects for women and children around the world. The tour will include visits to Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan and Calcutta, as well as an optional tour to Kathmandu and Chitwan in Nepal. The tour will be highlighted by a visit to Project Five-O Calcutta, one of our earliest projects. This is a unique opportunity to foster cultural exchange and stretch out our hands to women around the globe, sharing ideas and dreams in our mission to invest in women worldwide.
To assist participants with their travel and accommodation needs, VGIF has partnered with one of its NGO affiliates, Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (FAF), to offer for your serious consideration flexible land and air packages (for travelers from New York, USA) and land-only packages for all interested participants.
Please view all details of the travel packages including registration capability at the FAF web site, www.faf.org . or http://www.faf.org/grouptours/tourinfo/vgifconference/travel2india.htm PLEASE NOTE: These are special, NGO discounted group rates and are only available if at least 25 paying passengers take each respective plan (signed, contracted and with deposits paid by December 1, 2008).
AAUW values and seeks a diverse membership. There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or class. Membership is open to individuals who hold an associate's or equivalent, bachelor's, or higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university If you are an undergraduate in a two-or four-year regionally accredited educational institution, you can join as a student affiliate of a branch or a student-affiliate-at-large.