One year ago this month, Governor Phil Scott signed into law a piece of legislation that moves Vermont a step further down the road to pay equity. On Monday, May 13, the Bennington Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will host a public meeting to celebrate a victory that will have an enduring impact on the economic lives of Vermont's workers, particularly women, and to welcome Cary Brown, Executive Director of the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) in a rare appearance in our part of the state. The meeting, held at the Bennington Free Library at 7 p.m, will begin with a celebratory toast of sparkling water and close with light refreshments.

The new statute is a milestone because it breaks a pattern of chaining future salaries—and eventually, retirement benefits—to often low-balled past salaries, by prohibiting employers from asking job candidates for their salary history.

The Bennington Branch of AAUW collaborated with national AAUW and the Vermont Commission on Women to press legislative committees to advance this bill. Cary Brown will speak about VCW's year-round work to improve the lives of girls and women in our state, how they learn about needs from communities statewide, and their priorities for the year ahead.

The Vermont Commission on Women, the only entity in the state that explicitly considers the broad implications of state policy and budget priorities for women, is an independent, nonpartisan state commission governed by 16 Commissioners and an Advisory Council. Women in Vermont still face inequities in earnings, employment, safety, leadership, and many other areas. VCW takes the lead in confronting those inequities.