California NOW

Help Us Continue Fighting for Women!

We're proud that our work is moving California closer towards achieving women's equality and empowerment, even if our leaders continue to kick and scream along the way.

When the governor proposed eliminating the Commission on the Status of Women, we not only held a fundraiser to keep the Commission going, we made it our business to ensure the Commission and gender equity continued to be part of state government.  When the Governor eliminated the office of Women’s Health and tried to implement Health in All Policies without women, we were there to ensure all women were counted by the state in eliminating health disparities.

Right now we’re fighting to ensure women’s employment and women workers are part of California’s Strategic Plan for Economic Development & Jobs and we’re fighting to ensure domestic violence and rape law enforcement mandates remain and are finally paid for by all levels of government.

We’re also working with the Attorney General’s office to ensure that women across the state have access to full reproductive healthcare and that end of life directives are respected as Catholic healthcare corporations seek to expand their market share.  You can count on us to ensure that women and men will have the information they need to be an informed healthcare consumer.

The reason we can fight for all of these important issues is because we aren't financially dependent upon any of the special interest groups that run Sacramento.

Unfortunately, the down economy has hit our supporters hard which, in turn, has hit us hard. Even though we work on a shoestring budget, we're finding it more difficult to get by each month.

That's why we're holding a fundraiser. We know the ticket price is high and may be cost prohibitive for some of you but if you can afford to attend, we assure you that your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will be spent wisely. And please forward this to anyone you know in the LA area. If you cannot attend the event but would like to make a tax-deductible donation NOW, click here.

No other organization works on as many issues impacting women and girls as we do. And no other organization is as independent as we are. We hope you'll support our work by attending this fundraiser. It's a good tax deduction and a great investment in our daughters' future.

Stopping Walmart's Abuses

Today, our state president, Patricia Bellasalma, spoke at the Capitol in support of AB 880 (D-Gomez) which would force Walmart and other large corporations to stop their current practice of dumping employees onto Medi-Cal where taxpayers end up shouldering the burden of their healthcare costs.

Here's the text of Patty's speech:

"California NOW stands in partnership with Assemblymember Gomez because he stands in partnership with the Women of Labor who are here today working to enact AB 880.

We are all here gather together on the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Equal Pay Act in solidarity over our commitment in working towards a more just and fair society.  Equal Pay for Equal Work - 50 years women have been working for justice – for fairness.  Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived.  We are still waiting for our work to be equally valued and respected.

We are here because we know women represent nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers in this country.  That means millions of women living well below the poverty level. That isn't by accident - it's because of what some in our society have chosen to value and not value.

We are here because we know that true prosperity for everyone will occur when we equally value early education and childcare because doing so breaks the cycle of poverty.

We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone is a living wage that includes universal healthcare and a defined benefit pension.

We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone means an economy that recognizes and values everyone’s economic contributions.

The truth is, we - as a society - make a decision every single day as to what we value. We are here because we know that we still live in a society that values traits and jobs labeled male over traits and jobs labeled female.

When we pay a plumber $100 an hour yet pay the person who cares for our children and our aging parents just $10 an hour, we're making a decision as to what we value. I want you to think about that. Why do we place greater value on the person who fixes our toilet over the person who cares for our children? 

Care work is often called "noble," but only when that work is free or close to it. Women in California provide $47 billion annually in unpaid care work.  It’s time for our work to be economically counted.  It’s time for California to also enact a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.  It’s time for the Legislature and the Governor to also adopt the Mitchell Plan for Cal-Works.

Here in California, we need and must to do better. Enacting AB 880 is another important step in doing better. We are here because this bill will protect women’s health.  Medi-Cal already has a shortage of doctors.  It is women and other low-income workers who will suffer from lack of access to healthcare if big corporations take advantage of a loophole that will allow them to dump 400,000 workers onto Medi-Cal at taxpayer expense.

It’s bad enough that Walmart and other big corporations pay workers so little that they qualify for government assistance, while also failing to pay their fair share of property and other taxes that pay for that assistance. 

We are here because Walmart and other large corporations are cutting worker hours so they can continue to shift their fair share of responsibility for healthcare onto California taxpayers.

We are here united to protect women’s health - to protect all taxpayers by closing the Walmart loophole. We are here in support of AB 880.”

What are our priorities?

Next week, leaders from across the world will gather at the G8 Summit in Ireland. One of the discussions will be whether to plug a gigantic $1 trillion per year corporate tax loophole - enough money to end poverty, put every child in school, and double green investment!  $1 trillion is more than every country combined spends on their military. It's bigger than the budgets of 176 nations. It's $1,000 for every family on this planet.

$1 trillion is also the amount that our largest corporations and wealthiest individuals evade each year in taxes.

Apple, one of the world's wealthiest companies (headquartered right here in California), paid basically $0 in tax on $78 billion they made in recent years by setting up shell corporations in low-tax countries and posting profits abroad. Ironically, Ireland is one of those countries.

California NOW has been talking about this problem for more than a year. Finally, at the G8 summit next week, world leaders will consider a plan that would make it harder for companies like Apple to evade taxes by hiding their money offshore and in tax shelters. The plan would require countries to share information to expose where the money is hidden and require "fake" companies to reveal who's really behind them.

Seems like a no-brainer, right? So who's the holdout? The United States and Canada. Both countries are considering siding with corruption over this momentous step forward.

We can't let that happen. That's why we're supporting a petition to get 1 million signatures asking President Obama to sign on to this plan. We've already crossed the 500,000 mark - let's get the full million signatures so that the media has to pay attention and spotlight this demand. Click here to sign the petition NOW!

When governments everywhere are cutting spending on vital social priorities (that disproportionately impact women and girls), it's particularly galling that the wealthiest get a free pass from paying their fair share. It's even more disgusting when you consider the fact that the hard times were caused by massive government handouts to bailout banks owned by the same people who continue to evade taxes.

World leaders finally want to get serious about plugging these holes and they want powerful multinationals to pay their fair share in taxes. Unfortunately, President Obama has not signed on to supporting this action. We need him to feel the pressure of a million Americans demanding he stand with us - not with the 1%. Please sign the petition NOW and share it via social media asking everyone you know to sign it.

Together, our million voices are stronger and more powerful than the lobbyists. We just have to use them. Please join me in standing up for the other 99% on this planet.

For Equality & In Solidarity,

Patricia Bellasalma
President, California NOW

Huffington Post isn't exactly cutting edge when it comes to women

California NOW Action VP, Linda Long

Ok Huff Post…you really need to “lean in” on women’s issues!

Why does nearly every article on the Women’s Voices page have to do with relationships, beauty, weight or “Girls”? Really? I get that women will only eat Haagen-Das if that is all that is offered, but it doesn’t mean that is all we want or need!

The Black Voices page offers articles on the politics of being black, the problems of being black in America, and solutions to the problems. The Latino Voices page more of the same. But, holy cow, if you believe the voices on the Women’s page, we are a shallow bunch of white 1%ers.

There’s nothing on the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the problems with passing the Violence Against Women resolution because of the Vatican’s opposition citing tradition and religion? Considering how the issue of rape has been on every woman’s Facebook page every day this week, seems like someone would have mentioned that the Vatican is more worried about controlling women than protecting them.

There’s nothing on the ongoing problems with health care implementation in states which are doing everything to exclude women because we are “expensive.” I mean, really - those darn women who want to have the children to guarantee our future. The gall of them!

There’s nothing on raising the minimum wage (that was on the Latino Voices page) even though the majority of minimum wage earners are women and a huge bunch of them are home health care workers, none of whom is protected under National Labor Relations Act! No, just the stupid “Lean In” crap which probably makes the majority of women who struggle every day to afford child care and food on their tables want to “LEAN ON” a few of the 1%er women who don’t pay their fair share of taxes, or offer their child care workers a decent salary, overtime or even health care.

Frankly, I can’t imagine how much more leaning without falling over a woman for whom one sick day can make the difference between eating at the end of the week or not can do!

There are lots of articles on makeup…most of which is toxic and can’t even be sold in Europe where the standards are much higher than in America (darn those socialists…always thinking of women’s health)!

There are articles on stay-at-home moms which fail to talk about advocating for social security to be paid into the system by the society which supposedly “values” them so much. We forget to tell those stay-at-home moms that they will get nothing for their retirement. Their work has so much “value” it’s free! Bet that is going to help them eat in 50 years.

Let’s face it, women are complex. We do care about relationships and the way we look but all of that is the Haagen Das and we only eat that after getting out of a really bad relationship. What we need is a real meal (steak, vegetables, salad and maybe some wine) and we want the media to stop trying to make us only eat the ice cream and, instead, offer us up some nutrition because that is something we can “lean in” to.

International Women's Day!

Today is International Women's Day.  In commemoration, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet spoke today at the United Nations.

Here is a portion of what she said....

"We cannot move backwards, we must keep moving forward. It is what we owe to millions of women fighting for their rights around the world.

We find ourselves at a tipping point in history. Never before have we witnessed such global momentum and mobilization by men and women, girls and boys, demanding an end to violence against women and girls.

Never before have we witnessed such open, widespread public outrage and calls for change and action.

Never before have we had the instant and global outreach that new technologies afford—to record in mere seconds, and communicate in real time, the atrocities and horrors of violence committed against women and girls.

Violence against women is pervasive and knows no borders. It does not discriminate according to nationality, ethnicity, social class, culture or religion.

This is why women, men and young people have raised their voices in every region to say one thing: enough is enough.

People demand an immediate end to impunity. They insist on the protection of the rights of women and girls to live in dignity, free of violence and discrimination.

And let me say this: There can be no peace, no progress, no equality without women’s full and equal rights and participation. And there can be no gender equality without women’s realization. Women’s realization of their full reproductive rights, their right to sexual and reproductive health, are essential to the empowerment of women and to gender equality.

As social transformations in attitudes, beliefs, and values are happening, we must keep pace with the aspirations of people everywhere in the world. Their hope, our hope is to see gender equality become reality in this, our 21st century."

Click here to read Michelle Bachelet's full remarks.