What would you say to governors who are trying to get women the support they need to enter the workforce? How does it benefit their economies when women are working?
I was a governor. And I, as governor, brought about all-day public kindergarten, tripled the number of public preschool classrooms, made huge investments in child care, built child care centers, and raised wages of home care workers. We cut our unemployment rate by a third and went from being the highest unemployment rate in the country to having more jobs ever at any time in our state’s history. So what I would tell [them] is when you make these investments, women enter the workforce. Meaning your economy is stronger and their families are stronger. And by the way, when they have money in their pocket from a job, they put it right back into the economy. It’s just the right thing to do, and it’s also smart for their economies.
So many of the things that we want individuals to access are very important that the internet delivers, so it’s more of a human right. Do you see it as a human right now?
Absolutely, I think COVID taught all of us that. Being the governor during COVID, I would get so many heartbreaking letters, handwritten letters, from moms and dads and kids begging me for internet so their kids could go to school. So their children could continue to see a therapist virtually, could continue to see their doctor virtually, could do their job from home. I mean, it’s not an exaggeration to say that for many people, [having] internet is life or death. I mean, if you are home, isolated, disconnected, it’s very harmful. So yes, I absolutely believe that it’s a lifeline, it’s necessary.
