This week Senator Gillibrand seems to be staying out of the fight between Democrats and Republicans in Congress about the government shutdown which has now lasted almost two weeks. She had no news conferences or interviews with the media this week and there was no mention of the shutdown on her facebook page since last week. The only item related to the shutdown on her twitter was that she was pleased New York State has come up with a deal to open the Statue of Liberty during the government shutdown. She also mentioned on Wednesday that over 40,000 New Yorkers have purchased Obamacare already, and it seems to be benefitting New Yorkers. For the most part, she has chosen to stay out of the fight between Democrats and Republicans this week and has not pointed fingers at any of the leaders or either party.
Although Senator Gillibrand has been staying out of the government shutdown debate, she is still pushing hard to fight to improve the lives of women and families in this country. Senator Gillibrand has been a champion of fighting for women and children in Congress, and this has always been an issue about which she is extremely passionate. Bloomberg News mentions how Senator Gillibrand is pushing for a child care tax break after the government reopens. This tax break, according to Bloomberg News, could be as much as 14,000 dollars per American family. Senator Gillibrand said “we need to understand that childcare costs are increasing and more mothers are working which is making it very difficult for families.” Currently the law allows taxpayers with children in daycare to claim a 35 percent tax credit for childcare expenses and Senator Gillibrand wants to raise this to 50 percent. According to Bloomberg News this would raise the tax credit from 1050 to 3000 dollars per single child. President Obama also has mentioned, in his 2014 fiscal budget, similar credits that Senator Gillibrand wants to implement. Senator Gillibrand states “The key to a growing economy–the key to a thriving middle class in the 21st century is women.” She further states “we have to equip more working women with tools and opportunities needed to achieve their best in the economy and best for their family.” The article also discusses that many working women whose spouse earns a higher salary than them fall into a higher tax bracket when they jointly file their taxes which causes them not to want to work. Senator Gillibrand feels that without having these tax credits for childcare many women who are a vital part of the workforce would feel that it is cheaper and more beneficial for them to stay home and not work. However, the article points out that this proposal would be very difficult to pass when Congress is looking for ways to cut the tax code even further. Elaine Maag who is a senior research associate for the Urban Committee mentions that in order for Senator Gillibrand’s proposals to pass they need to be geared only towards low income families and not middle and wealthier families. Since most of her proposals don’t achieve this, it is going to be very hard for them to pass in Congress.
Senator Gillibrand also has been actively working on a bill since July that would improve the way military assaults on women are handled. She was mentioned in an editorial in the New York Times on Tuesday about sexual assaults in the military. Women who are the victims of sexual assaults in the military currently need to go through intense questioning that sometimes last over 30 hours. In addition, many of the questions asked by the defense attorneys are not related to the assault. The article mentions that due to the intense questioning that women receive when they are victims of sexual assault in the military, many cases of sexual abuse in the military go unreported. The editorial that was written by The New York Times editorial board states one way to improve how sexual assaults are handled in the military would be to appoint independent prosecuting attorneys to handle these cases instead of specifically trained prosecuting attorneys for the military who may sometimes have a conflict of interest in the case. The article discusses how Senator Gillibrand’s proposed bill involves changing this issue. Senator Gillibrand plans to bring this up on the Senate floor when the military spending bill comes up on the Senate floor for the next fiscal year. The article also mentions that support for her bill is growing and has received support from 46 Senators including 16 of the Senate’s 20 women. The bill has also received support from the Defense Advocacy group on Women in Service which is a key interest group for military issues and the Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The Times mentions that the bill will probably make it through the Senate, but they are concerned about it passing the House although we are closer to solving this problem in the military with Senator Gillibrand’s bill.
It should be interesting to see in the future if Senator Gillibrand pushing her own agenda during the government shutdown instead of being involved in the fight will help her politically or not. It might also be that Senator Gillibrand does not want to be involved in the shutdown arguments which she referred to as being no better than her son Henry fighting over candy for breakfast last week; she might think it is too childish to get involved.
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