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What advocacy groups are seeking

Liberal advocacy groups, often thwarted in Congress for the past 14 years, have a long list of legislative priorities they will push for when Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats take power in Washington. Among them:

November 9, 2008
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Criminal-justice reform groups
  • Eliminate sentencing disparity that is harsher on crack cocaine than powder cocaine.

  • Expand alternatives to incarceration.

  • Extend voting rights to people released from prison.

  • Restore welfare and food stamp eligibility to people with drug felony convictions.

    Gay rights groups
  • Outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

  • Expand hate-crimes laws to cover violence motivated by anti-gay bias.

  • Modify immigration laws to accommodate same-sex partners from other nations.

  • Repeal "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military.

    Feminist groups
  • Close the gender wage gap and increase the minimum wage.

  • Enable more workers to benefit from paid sick days and family/medical leave.

  • Ratify the United Nations treaty to end sex discrimination.

    Reproductive rights groups
  • Expand access to birth control and family planning.

  • Eliminate federal support for abstinence-only sex education and support comprehensive programs that include teaching about contraception.

  • Reverse regulation that bars aid to groups providing or promoting abortions.

  • Limit or overturn policies that interfere with a woman's right to have an abortion.

    Immigrant rights groups
  • Halt or cut back on workplace raids targeting undocumented workers.

  • Enact comprehensive immigration reform that provides illegal immigrants with options other than deportation.

    SOURCE: Associated Press

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