DELAURO REMARKS AT PCSW PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING CONNECTICUT AS THE BEST STATE FOR WOMEN

Hartford, CT — At a press conference today with members of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member made the following statement in recognition of Connecticut's recent #1 ranking in iVillage Best States for Women study.

As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you. It is good to be with you this afternoon.

Let me first thank Teresa Younger and everyone at the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women for inviting me to join you today.

Thank you also to Speaker Donovan and Senator Harp. And, of course, thanks to my colleague Senator Blumenthal. It is always good to see you.

Finally, thanks to all the activists and advocates for women here today. It is because of your hard work and struggle everyday that we are making progress for women, here in Connecticut and across America.

First, let me say how proud I am that Connecticut has been ranked the best state for women in America by iVillage. This report was based on a compilation of data from organizations like the National Council of State Legislatures, the National Women's Law Center, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, and the Census Bureau.

Time and again, this report showed Connecticut at or near the top in the number of college-educated women, the number of women with health insurance, the number of women at a healthy weight, female representation in politics, median income, and other categories.

I think this ranking is a testament to our state's long tradition of women in politics – like Ella Grasso, the first woman elected governor in her own right in the United States; like our great Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman; and like my own mother Luisa, who is still the longest serving Alderman in New Haven history.

This is not a partisan success story. Across the aisle, women like Nancy Johnson, Jodi Rell, and Themis Klarides have risen to the top.

But, more importantly, this ranking is a recognition of the hard work we have done in our state to acknowledge the continuing discrimination against women, and to work to correct it.

However, we all must recognize what the measures in this study do not include: they do not compare women to men on rates of poverty, median incomes or women-owned businesses. In fact, Connecticut ranks 4th in highest average median income for women and 2nd in highest average median income for men. Connecticut ranks 33rd in the country for the ratio of women to men's annual median income.

Here in Connecticut, organizations like the Permanent Commission have advocated for family friendly legislation over the years. The Permanent Commission has been working hard for women for over 35 years. Under leaders like Patti Russo and Teresa Younger, the PCSW has been the State's leading force for women's equality.

It studies all matters concerning women, informs leaders and the public about the nature and scope of discrimination, and works with State agencies to assess programs and practices as they affect women. In short, it helps to move women forward.

We also have a proud tradition in our state of leading the nation in pro-family policies. It was here, in 1987, that the first-ever state family and medical leave legislation in the country became law. It became a model for the national Family and Medical Leave Act, whose champions included our former Senator Chris Dodd.

And it was here, in 2011, that Governor Malloy signed into law paid sick days legislation that I hope will become a similar model nationwide.

So we have a lot to be proud of. But we should not and cannot rest on our laurels. Progress and change does not come through pride, but through an unflinching recognition of the many problems we still face. The fact of the matter is women's economic security is still extremely precarious, here in Connecticut and across the country.

And, as we have seen in Washington lately, women's health and basic rights still come under continual attack from some corners.

Even before the recession, women's median pay actually fell between 2004 and 2007, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Incomes for women-headed households between 2000 and 2006 were down 3 percent.

Women have been suffering the effects of this faltering economy with particular force and poignancy. Women are now over half of the public workforce, but they have experienced 84% of the public sector job losses during the so-called recovery.

Half of women are in jobs without retirement plans. They are one third more likely to be in sub-prime mortgages. And even as women face all the same difficulties as men in this economy, they have to get by, and often support the families alone, making only 77 cents on the dollar.

In our state, that adds up to an average income gap of over $15,000 for women. It is partly why the majority of seniors in poverty are women.

And this is not the only problem women face. As you know, I and my colleagues worked extremely hard to pass a package of health care reforms that finally put women's health on an equal footing.

Because we acted, all women will soon enjoy maternity coverage. They can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing condition, or because they have had a child, a c-section, or been the victims of domestic violence. They have access to life-saving preventive services.

And, beginning in 2014, insurers can no longer charge individual women more than men for the same plan – the discriminatory practice of gender rating will end once and for all.

We still have so much more work to do before women's health and economic security is truly on an equal footing in America.

We need to continue the discussion. I have organized a panel discussion on this very topic, to be held this Thursday at Quinnipiac University.

I am proud to roll up my sleeves everyday and continue that work, and to work alongside each and every one of you in this effort. Thank you.