Every right and freedom that women reclaimed was the result of decades – if not centuries — of battles for equality, dedicated advocacy and endless resilience. Women’s History Month is a reminder to reflect on the numerous empowered women who paved the path that I now walk, like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Shirley Chisholm. I serve among legislators who are making history beginning with their election victories and now with their policies.
The 131st Legislature has made history. Every member of the majority leadership for the House of Representatives is a woman. Both the Majority Leader and the Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate are women. The people of Senate District 27 elected the first Black woman to the State Senate. Ten out of the 22 members of the Senate Democratic caucus are women. When we have such strong representation in places of power, we have the ability to help our communities more effectively. Over the years, the Legislature has gradually become more diverse, and the policies we have passed into law have reflected this change.
Former Sen. Cathy Breen led the way in the struggle to address inequitable pay when lawmakers passed LD 278. This law prohibits employers from asking about prior wages or salary until they have made an offer of employment. Research shows that asking for prior pay information perpetuates and exacerbates the gender wage gap. One act of pay discrimination early in a woman’s career could adversely affect her for the rest of her life. By ensuring that employers stop asking for wages or salary history, women are no longer harmed by previous instances of discrimination. This legislation directly addresses a chronic issue that women have faced for decades.
In my first term, I sponsored legislation to require private and public insurance carriers to cover services by certified midwives just as we do for certified nurse midwives. We passed the bill, helping ensure that certified midwives in Maine have better access to equitable pay by requiring insurance carriers to cover their services. Midwives form an essential part of the health care system, which is why it’s important that they are justly paid. Patients also have better access to their services because more providers are now covered. As a nurse midwife, I channeled my experiences into this policy to change many more lives than just my own.
This session, my colleague Sen. Mattie Daughtry is leading the movement to get paid family and medical leave legislation onto the Governor’s desk. In the 130th Legislature, we created a commission to study how a statewide paid family leave would work for Maine. Last month, the commission released its final report. We are in a good position to finally bring paid family and medical leave to our state. This would improve the lives of all Mainers, but especially women, by giving them the ability to take care of
themselves and their loved ones without facing the shadow of financial security. Change happens when women are in the room where decisions are made. Our experiences and knowledge are vital resources when drafting legislation. In order to ensure equity in law, there must be equity in who is writing it. However, we still have a long way to go. Forming a Legislature of people with many different experiences is the only way we are going to truly make equitable legislation that improves the lives of all. Electing women is the goal we need to aim for, including electing women of color, women of the queer community, transgender women, those who are gender non-conforming or non-binary. Until we have all voices at the table, we won’t be able to help all the communities of Maine. If you have questions, ideas or comments throughout the legislative session, please feel free to contact me at Stacy.Brenner@legislature.maine.gov or my legislative office at (207) 287-1515. You can also follow my Facebook page at Facebook.com/SenatorStacyBrenner for more frequent updates.
Stacy Brenner is serving her second term in the Maine Senate, representing Senate District 30, which includes Gorham, and most of Scarborough. She is the co-owner of Broadturn Farm in Scarborough and is also a certified nurse-midwife.