This has been an historic year for New York State in the ongoing campaign to protect, strengthen and further advance women’s rights.     

That’s because the Governor has just signed the Women’s Equality Agenda into law.  This legislative package was spearheaded by my colleagues and I in the Senate Republican Majority, and as a result of our unyielding pressure and the support of millions of women throughout the state, the following critically important measures will become law:
  
•  A new law to ensure equal pay for women; 
•  A new law cracking down on sexual harassment in the workplace;  
•  A new law to protect pregnant women from workplace discrimination;  
•  A new law providing domestic violence victims with a safer, more accessible avenue for obtaining an order of protection; 
•  A new law, known as the “Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act” that toughens penalties against those who engage in the outrageous crime of human trafficking;  
•  A new law to prohibit workplace discrimination based on family status, which will protect women from bias in employment, pay and advancement; 
•  A new law to prohibit discrimination in housing based upon domestic violence status; and 
•  A new law to allow reimbursement of reasonable attorney’s fees in employment and credit discrimination cases when sex is a basis of discrimination. 

We still have a long way to go. But by working together in a bi-partisan manner, we were able to make tremendous progress this year in the ongoing effort to advance women’s rights.