Women as legislators, women as employers: striving for balance in public policy.

• Author: Smith, Cheryl

WOMEN AS LEGISLATORS, WOMEN AS EMPLOYERS

Striving for Balance in Public Policy

In its first year of statehood in 1896, Utah became America's third state to give suffrage to women. Today, nearly 100 years later, Utah's 12 women state legislators represent as many as 240,000 Utahns.

Rep. Joanne R. Milner, D-Salt Lake City, represents one of the poorest districts in all of Utah. One night, after a day of work that included attending an extravagant fund-raising luncheon, she answered a knock on her door. Three young hispanic boys stood on her doorstep, each holding a large empty bucket. "Can we borrow some hot water so we can take baths?" they asked. Having served five years as a state legislator, Milner is convinced that business leaders and politicians need to expose themselves to such stark economic and social realities.

More than half of Utah's population is women. Additionally, more women work in this state than in other states--especially women with young children. "For many women, work is not a choice, but a necessity," Milner stated. And she, like many others, is disappointed that women make up only 11 percent of Utah's Legislature, saying that other state legislatures are 15 to 36 percent women. Arizona's Legislature, for example, is about 36 percent women. "Women bring a different vantage point to the Legislature, she commented. "Utah will have better public policy if it has that balance."

Laws That Passed. . .Others That Failed

Milner sponsored a bill this year called Affirmative Action Plan for Utah. Until the bill passed in the most recent session, Utah had no Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) in place, though the state was in the process of developing one. While the new law pertains only to state government's equal-opporunity hiring practices, many lawmakers believe it serves as a guideline for private industry, as well. According to Milner, the plan does not impose hiring quotas or require employers to accept people who are unqualified. "It calls for a good faith effort in providing recruiting, training, and promotional opportunities for women and minorities who are proportionately underrepresented in administrative and higher-paying jobs," she pointed out.

"Affirmative Action requires collection of employment data to see where we are now, and if we can justify our goals and time frames," Milner explained. "As we enter the 21st century, [employers need to ask] |do opportunities exist for a diverse workforce?' For the past several years, Utah has not had the empirical data to show how we're doing. We don't know the breakdown of our...