In 2017, women across the United States saw our rights attacked by our own government in Washington. The Trump Administration has worked to systematically dismantle the policies
that matter most to women and girls—on wide-ranging issues, including health care, child care,education and workforce equity, to name just a few.
But we did not take these attacks without a fight. Women stoodup, marched, petitioned—and united to speak out about sexual harassment and assault. And in New York State, we took bold steps
to advance women’s equality and opportunity. Now more than ever, Governor Cuomo is fighting to ensure that progress for women continues to move in the right direction—forward.
Many of the policies and laws that Governor Cuomo already set in motion to advace women’s equality and opportunity will go into effect in 2018, including Paid Family Leave, raised minimum wage
and regulations to protect access to contraception no matter what happens at the federal level.
In 2018, we will build on this progress. We will advance equality for women and protect our rights against federal attempts to stall and undermine us. In New York, we will create opportunity for
women to succeed in every area: work, health, safety, education and family life.
We will expand pre-K and after-school slots, providing more child care options for parents. We will expose more young girls to STEM to close the gender gap in math and science and show girls that
they can do anything. We will work to enshrine access to reproductive health care into New York State law and advance common sense protections against domestic violence and sextortion. And
we will work to end sexual harassment in the workplace.
We cannot do all of this alone. We will stand with the women and men of New York to ensure progress continues to move forward and women’s equality is always advanced. The set of proposals
in this report work to do just that. Each year we strive to do more—and now, more than ever, we will double down on our effort to be sure New York leads on women’s rights and opportunity.