In Maryland and across the nation, women face inequities in health, caregiving responsibilities, economic opportunity, safety and more. Overall, women earn 84 cents to every dollar men make, while Black and Latina women make 68 and 46 cents to every dollar that a man makes respectively. Additionally, reproductive rights and a woman’s right to make decisions about her body are under attack now more than ever before, and child care and paid leave policies too often force women to choose between nurturing their career and nurturing their families. When it comes to public safety, women are also more likely to be victims of sex crimes and human trafficking. It is essential that Maryland continue to advance solutions to expand economic opportunities, reproductive rights, and enhance families’ economic and personal security.
Wes Moore and Aruna Miller are ready to address these challenges head-on because our state and economy work better when everyone has equitable access to opportunity. Former Delegate Aruna Miller has spent her career fighting the status quo; from being an immigrant who came to the United States as a little girl, graduating as a Civil Engineer in a male-dominated field, and to being elected as the first Indian American woman to the Maryland General Assembly. In these roles, and in raising three daughters and being a caretaker for her mother, Aruna understands firsthand the challenges women face. Wes credits his mother’s support as the most important factor in his success. After Wes’ father died, he watched his mom work three jobs just to support their family. He knows the challenges a single mom faces raising a family.
With this shared determination to implement equitable policies, the Moore-Miller administration will:
- Advance reproductive rights by enshrining the protections of Roe v. Wade into our constitution, expanding access to abortion training for health care providers and ensuring that every Maryland can afford and access reproductive care.
- Repeal the Maryland law allowing spouses who engage in sexual abuse against their partner to use their marriage as a legal defense; and pass legislation to ensure that women, particularly minors, aren’t charged as criminals when they are forced into prostitution by human traffickers.
- Ensure equal pay for women by exploring policies requiring companies to disclose demographics on gender, race and salary bands; and removing salary history from the interview process.
- Establish a Women in STEM focus across all levels of education and invest in job training and credentialing programs to drive women into high-demand, high-paying STEM jobs.
- Get women back to work by ensuring every family has access to quality, affordable child care by broadening the expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, developing a system to cap out-of-pocket expenses for families in need and more.
- Secure paid sick, family, and medical leave for every Marylander so that no family has to choose between caring for a new child or loved one or their paycheck.
- Allow small, woman-owned businesses to compete by modernizing Maryland’s procurement process, requiring small business set-asides, and making it easier for local governments to piggyback on state contracts with small and woman-owned businesses.