Coalition for Maine Women Day at the State House

Lobby day participants meet with Representative Rotundo

Today dozens of women showed up at the State House for the Coalition for Maine Women Day.  The morning began with networking, speeches and workshops and ended with our citizen lobbyists taking their new skills to the floor and lobbying their Senators and Representatives on: The budget, paid sick days, and Deca.

“ ‘An Act to Prevent the Spread of H1N1, if passed, it will protect those workers who might otherwise be forced to go to work sick—infecting co-workers and customers. I’ve already picked up the phone to call my legislators about it, but this is my first time coming to the State House. I’m excited to have the opportunity to talk with my legislators directly and learn other tools for making my voice heard.”

- Kristina Minott, a resident of Bangor.

The Coalition for Maine Women is a group of more than 30 organizations across the state of Maine, today representatives from: Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; The Maine Women’s Policy Center; NASW Maine; Maine Civil Liberties Union; Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community; Maine Equal Justice Partners; Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center; Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault; Business and Professional Women – Maine; Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence; AAUW Maine; and the Family Planning Association of Maine turned out for the big day.

Check out some thoughts from women who lobbied today: