Violence Against Women
Policy Trends Report 7
January 16, 2001
David M. Heger
National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
University of Missouri - St. Louis
Political Analyst
Federal
On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush
will be sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States.
Last month and earlier this month, Mr. Bush selected the members of
his Cabinet, including former Missouri Senator John Ashcroft for Attorney
General and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson for Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS). Both men must be confirmed by the
Senate before taking office. As chief law enforcement officer and head
of the department responsible for women's health issues, respectively,
Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Thompson, if confirmed, will play important roles
in the effort to prevent violence against women.
Analysts currently believe that
Mr. Thompson, a moderate Republican from a traditionally progressive
state, will face little trouble in convincing the Senate of his suitability
for the job. The Governor is best known for his innovative solutions
to welfare reform in his state of Wisconsin. Most liberals feel confident
that as head of HHS he would lobby against any efforts to cut federal
welfare spending. Although Mr. Thompson's reform program cut state assistance
roles by 84 percent since 1993, Wisconsin welfare allocations this year
are just 4 percent lower than they were in 1994.
Mr. Ashcroft, on the other hand,
is already facing tough opposition from several liberal interest groups
that portray him as soft on gun control and opposed to civil rights
and a woman's "right to choose." Such interest groups see the Attorney
General nominee as "extreme" in his viewpoints and feel emboldened by
the close presidential election to fight his confirmation. According
to the National Organization of Women (NOW), which opposes Mr. Ashcroft's
nomination, the former Senator "has urged a ban on some of the most
effective forms of birth control as well as abortion, even in cases
of rape and incest, or if a woman's health is at risk." In response
to liberal criticism, conservatives have rallied together to support
Mr. Ashcroft by vouching for his integrity and fitness for the office.
Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) recently told reporters that his former
colleague "is committed to enforcing the laws of the land, even laws
he may disagree with."
Both House and Senate leadership
have enacted radical procedural changes in recent days. Making good
on a promise from when they retook control of the House in 1994, Republicans
asked committee and subcommittee chairs whom had served for six years
to step down from their positions. These new term limits have led to
a revamping of the House leadership structure and almost every committee
and subcommittee now has a new lawmaker at the helm. In a more dramatic
move, Senate Republican leadership agreed to a power sharing deal with
Democrats, who have moved into parity with the GOP in the upper chamber
as a result of the November elections. Democrats will now occupy an
equal number of seats on Senate committees and will have an equal share
of each committee's budget.
State
With the dawn of the New Year, the
pace of state legislative activity has begun to regain steam. All but
a handful of states have officially convened for the 2001 legislative
session. Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia comprise the list of remaining
inactive states. In many states, especially those with relatively long
sessions, official legislative action is slow for the first few months
and policymakers are able to indulge in detailed issue hearings and
meetings without having to vote on long lists of bills right away. Lawmakers
engaged in particularly short sessions, including those in Arkansas,
New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming, must work much more quickly and deliberately
in January and February because of time constraints.
Given the media coverage of sexual
offenses in recent years, it comes as no surprise that measures relating
to such offenses should make a lot of noise in the state legislatures.
This month, two Democratic assemblymen from New York, Jeffrey Klein
and Stephen Kaufman, reintroduced a bill that doubles jail terms for
HIV-positive sexual predators who knowingly expose others to the virus.
When the proposal was originally brought before the State Assembly in
1997 it failed to receive serious consideration. North Dakota SB 2035,
which addresses several issues relating to sexual predators and sexual
offenses, is receiving substantial support from lawmakers and is expected
to sail through the legislative process after some minor wrinkles in
the bill's language are ironed out. An Ohio law based on New Jersey's
Megan's Law came under scrutiny in state court appeals court recently.
The issue, which is likely to end up in the hands of the Ohio Supreme
Court, revolves around standards used to label sexual offenders upon
release from prison.
In the wake of increased federal
funding for domestic violence programs from the Violence Against Women
Act of 2000, advocates continue to push for a greater commitment from
state coffers. Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) responded to such concerns
in his annual Conditions of the State speech by promising $8 million
for abuse of all kinds, including child abuse and domestic violence.
Maine advocates are not pleased with their governor's budget proposal
allotment of $500,000 for domestic violence prevention. Citing Maine
as sixth in the nation in the rate of women killed by men, advocates
are lobbying Governor Angus King (I) to increase his financial commitment
to $4.8 million. In her State of the Judiciary speech, New York Chief
Judge Judith Kaye proposed to condense the state's court system in certain
cases. She noted that a battered woman must see three different judges
to seek a protection order, get a divorce, and request full custody
of her children. Besides the obvious advantage of saving time and money,
supporters of this proposal hold that having one judge preside over
these three motions would put the judge in a better position to make
smart decisions because he or she would be aware of all the issues facing
the family.