Women in the Economy Commission Meeting - Minutes Tuesday, December 3, 2019 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. House Room 25

Commission: Sen. Luz Escamilla, Sen. Ann Milner, Rep. , Rep. , Melissa Freigang, Anne Burkholder, Anne Marie Wallace, Karen Leonardi

Excused: Rep. Kathy Bounous, Jennifer Robinson

Staff Support: Shelle Allinson

Attendees: Erin Jemison, Rep. , Rep. , Rep. and Rep. Jennifer Daily-Provost.

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION Welcome Welcome by Sen. Escamilla. Do not have a quorum available to vote on minutes yet. Melissa Freigang read the WIEC Guiding Principles to help review what the Commission does. Representative Weight would like to be added to the next meeting Wellness of Women Erin Jemison from the YWCA presented. There agenda so she can address any Report for 2019 is an on-going myth that women are not questions that were brought up working outside of the home. Utah exceeds the during this one. national average of women working and has the highest percentage of women working part time of any other state. We also know that women are doing the majority of the care-giving. Women are increasing in managerial positions. Women are also experiencing less poverty but women of color are experiencing poverty at greater numbers than Caucasian women. Women are more likely to be dependent on Social Security income later on in life. Women experience higher rates of violence, depression and suicide.

Sen. Escamilla introduces our new Legislators Motion to approve minutes and now that we have a quorum we can vote on passed. approving the minutes. Commissioners emailed all Legislators to come and present bills they are running to our Commission. Rep. Weight contacted all of the House and Senate. Suggests the Commission needs more outreach. 1 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION Upcoming Rep. Patrice Arent presented on her upcoming Legislation legislation regarding expanded employee leave. Presentations Right now employers pay sick and vacation leave but sick leave is limited to the employee’s illness only. Her legislation would ask employers to allow sick leave to be used for sick family members they take care of. Erin Jemison said that the YWCA research this year shows this is one reason that keeps women out of the workforce and this bill would offer more narrow and simpler solutions. Sen. Milner asked if she has talked with employers? The Chamber has been working with small employers on this and have received positive support. Would be helpful to mention that in her presentation. Commissioner Wallace asked if there was any national data available on how much sick leave is going unused for a female employee. Rep. Arent could not find any such data but knows women are leaving the workforce over this issue when sick leave is made available to them. Sen. Escamilla asked who it would include? Rep. Arent said any person who the employee is a legal guardian to. Commissioner Freigang asks Commission voted to “support in for a vote to agree in concept. Rep. Arent can concept” this legislation. Motion come back to our meeting during Session and passed. present the language. Rep. Lisonbee abstained from the vote as she was not in attendance.

Rep. Suzanne Harrison presented her legislation on a tax credit pilot program. We are seeing the lowest unemployment rates in Utah but it comes with challenges. There is a shortage of affordable and quality child care. Wait lists for spots are long and for every one spot available, four or more people are waiting. Child care is unaffordable for many families. 63% of Utahns can’t afford it. A survey done found that 44% of parents would get more education or work outside of the home if they could get affordable child care. Approximately 150,000 Utah women would engage more with the economy. Affordable child care would create a 30% reduction in absenteeism and 60% reduction in employee turnover. Her legislation provides a State income tax credit for subsidizing any 2 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION employer provided child care for employees. It would encourage businesses to invest in community child care centers being set up. It has a five year sunset and the fiscal note is $500,000. She is also presenting legislation whether GOED can consider if a company has working parent benefits when considering incentive packages offered. Okie on-site child care, subsidizing child care, flexible work scheduled and paid family leave. She asks for a favorable recommendation on both bills. Rep. Lisonbee would like data on the amount of money businesses stand to lose from absenteeism and how this legislation will benefit businesses. Do they have a buy-in percent, is there a tax funded credit, will they benefit more if they put more in? Rep. Harrison said 50% of what they invest will be looked at for the tax credit. Opening new centers is difficult because they are held to such high standards including back ground checks on all child care providers which businesses would have to take on the cost of. They are not very profitable and run on very small margins. Most centers rely on government subsidies for lower income families. Past Commissioner The middle class are the ones really feeling that Recognition hit. Sen. Escamilla said there are no universal preschools in this state. After school programs are available and preschools are only 3-4 hours per day but a work day is 8 hours. Age 0-3 can go to preschool and age 5 starts Kindergarten but age 4 is the forgotten age. Nearly 50,000 age four children in Utah and there are not enough programs for them and no safe environments are provided. She is very glad for this legislation. Commissioner Freigang sees a need to provide benefits for early childhood intervention. Can child care be a part of her first pilot? Could there be a job growth piece? Suggest coming up with numbers for AMI to include in her presentation of the bill. Rep. Harrison said there is no income requirement for employees and any business can apply for the subsidies. Rep. Lisonbee suggests trying a pilot in areas that are impacted the most. Also looking at a date in the middle and the end to 3 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION show data from the pilot. Rep. Harrison would like to keep it as broad as possible so more businesses will think about the need and step up to help. Sen. Milner would like to know how outcomes will be measured and how it will be assessed as to whether it’s working or not. Rep. Harrison will add terms for a reporting requirement. If the number of available licensed child care spots increase then we will Commission voted to “support in know it is working. Sen. Escamilla suggested concept” this legislation. Motion adding to the bill that if you apply for a tax passed. credit then you will need to report back with the data.

Rep. Karen Kwan presented on a resolution to ratify the equal rights amendments to provide a grand gesture from the State. She saw a national narrative about women in Utah and the information was terrible. Showed as the second worst in the nation even though we were the first State to have women vote and to have a woman Senator. She wants young men and women to know of our history and also inform the national narrative. Rep. Lisonbee said we had a resolution last year regarding long standing recognition on women in Utah which highlighted how remarkable we are. Asked Rep. Kwan why she feels that didn’t help inform our Commission nation? Rep. Kwan wants a grander gesture. Business We are a national leader in equal political rights and helping draft language for women suffrage. She thinks that past has been forgotten. Rep. Lisonbee doesn’t see how this resolution would be a grand gesture to unite all Utah women. Worries if we do another resolution it is a second wave ratifying other States to provide more support for abortion. Rep. Kwan said we are informed by our past but not defined by it. Can not speak to any national movements and this bill is not attached to any of those issues. Arguments from the 70s and 80s were already addressed and put in the Constitution and this is not her message. Her message is one of love and respect and fairness. Rep. Lisonbee appreciates her passion but hesitates to see a need for a resolution. She can not support it. 4 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION Rep. Weight thinks her intent is to help clarify some of the real distortions created with the original introduction with the ERA in Utah, to help clarify what our State has always stood for. She believes this is a great discussion and appreciates Rep. Kwan’s interest in trying to get the rest of the country to understand. She supports it. Rep. Freigang would like to know how the resolution ties to the WIEC. Rep. Kwan said that research says that women need to feel 70% confident to get positions when they apply. Men feel 20%. This speaks to the culture of internalized messages that might impact women from stepping forward into better positions or ones they choose themselves. We need to send a strong message from out State about how respected, loved and valued women are. Sen. Escamilla said there is nothing more important Commission voted to “support in than equal rights in our country. Our own concept”. Rep. Lisonbee can not nations is making changes towards recognizing support it. Motion passed. the importance of women and equal rights and she thinks Rep. Kwan is a hero for taking this on.

Rep. Jennifer Daily-Provost would like to run legislation that would provide contraception for uninsured/underinsured women. It would provide access to birth control for female inmates. She was part of an inmate health care task force and has been working with jails on the problem of unwanted pregnancies and no access to birth control. This bill is different from past bills in that it includes inmates and helps the jail fund birth control. It is broader and includes all of Utah and she is asking for two- million dollars from approps. She would like it to be more of a grant to any organization with low income individuals. Rep. Lisonbee said we did expand Medicaid for this already. Rep. Provost said it will target any organization that provides care to underinsured people. There are a huge amount of people who don’t access Medicaid and use community health centers. Her first draft was just for inmates but now she is adding broader access. Rep. Lisonbee would like to see data on Medicaid expansion in our state what services are provided before she can 5 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION support this legislation. Commissioner Wallace would like to know what other access points are available. Rep. Provost said underinsured are at a higher risk of losing their medications. She would like to see more long acting contraceptives offered like an IUD. And because medication prices fluctuate it creates a barrier for low income people. She knows there are details that still need to be worked out but wanted to present to us so we could be aware. She would like at DOH being the ones to fund it and be in charge of granting the money and clinics themselves. Commissioner Freigang suggested she stick as close to the arguments for the Medicaid expansion which already passed and include the number of people that don’t access it. What is the cost to society? Having a dollar figure would help. Use more data to move arguments further.

Rep. Provost would like to do a maternal health support program pilot with Medicaid providing reimbursement for community health workers that would work with women during the prenatal period and post partum. Sen. Escamilla said there have already been four evidence based programs on this. She funded a study on prenatal to age 3. Medicaid does reimburse some already. She did a pay for success Committee passes a motion to program two years ago and would like to chat “support in concept” the bill on with Rep. Provost about this more after. unemployment insurance. Needs more information on the other Rep. Provost is also running a bill that would bills and would like Rep. Provost require any employer to notify its employees if be put first on the agenda for the they offer unemployment insurance. next Committee meeting.

Rep. Weight asks that bill drafts be sent via email to her or Shelle so all Commissioners can have a copy.

Commissioner Freigang suggested they be presented to policy subcommittees in the meantime.

Motion to Adjourn. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned. 6 | Page

AGENDA DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION

7 | Page