Portland Press Herald Opposes Paid Sick Leave

In a slightly bizarre editorial, the Portland Press Herald opposed Paid Sick Leave because the bill is not strong enough and might scare new business away and businesses mostly do the right thing anyway. The flawed logic -- if business is going to do the right thing, why will this bill scare them? -- scares me! It would make more sense to me if they either said "we should not mandate these things" or "we don't need it" but instead they assert that workers do need increased protection but we should not support this initiative because it is not comprehensive enough. Now, I'd love to see broader coverage, but why not support a start?

Read the editorial and possibly add a comment here.

This is a great time to write a letter to the editor -


Letters to the editor should be exclusive to this paper, contain 250 words or less and include the writer's name, address and home and work phone numbers. Readers will be contacted before their letters are published. Readers not contacted within 10 days can assume their letters will not be published. To submit letters: Mail to Letters to the Editor, Portland Press Herald, P.O. Box 1460, Portland, ME 04104-5009
Fax to (207) 828-8154

Send by e-mail @ this web site

Childhood Poverty a problem in the United States

The rate of child poverty in the United States is shameful. If we don't pay attention to the ever widening gap between the ultra-wealthy and the poor we put an entire generation at risk. Two organizations provide fabulous information to help educate ourselves, our community and our children.

The Center for Child Poverty at Columbia University provides tons of data and public policy information. They provide a 50-states database to retrieve demographic information for your own particular state.


United for a Fair Economy is an activist organization that also provides easy to understand economic data. I especially appreciate access to workshops and training materials - it makes it so easy to present information to a variety of audiences. (I held a wage gap play date a few years ago -- kids played and parents looked at the posters and talked about fair pay).


Teaching Economics as if People Mattered provides similar exercises and lessons geared toward high school students.

Wage Gap and Family Policy - Breakfast of Champions in October!

Laura Fortman, Commissioner of Labor and former director of the Maine Women's Lobby/Maine Women's Policy Center does a brilliant job explaining the complexities of the wage gap on this episode of Maine Watch.

The prospects for working women are bleak, and the wage gap remains stuck at $0.77 to men's $1.00. This means that thousands of Maine children live in poverty and maine families struggle because maine women are not earning a living wage.

The Maine Women's Policy Center is hosting a series of breakfasts to discuss this essential issue, as well as other public policy ideas that could help Maine families.

Register now for the Breakfast of Champions!

Thursday, October 4, from 7:30-9:00 a.m.
Holiday Inn By the Bay, Portland

Wednesday, October 10, from 7:30-9:00 a.m.
Spectacular Event Center, Bangor

Thursday, October 11, from 7:30-9:00 a.m.
Northern Maine Community College, Presque Isle

This year's Breakfast of Champions series will make the case for why family friendly public policies should be a political priority. Joining us in Portland and Bangor will be Judith Stadtman Tucker, editor of Mothers Movement Online and advocate for sound policies that benefit mothers and families.

Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door, and student tickets are $15. We are committed to representing women of all economic means; please contact us for discounted tickets. For tickets or sponsorship information, contact Bonnie at development@mainewomen.org or
207-622-0851, ext. 22.