The bipartisan California Legislative Women’s Caucus was formed in 1985 by nine Democrats and six Republicans. Today, 50 of the Legislature’s 120 members are women.
The caucus now includes 18 Senators — 15 Democrats and three Republicans — and 32 Assemblymembers — 27 Democrats and five Republicans).
Reducing barriers that prevent wealth creation for women is a concern for me and for the Women’s Caucus. Unfortunately, female entrepreneurs have trouble raising investment funds for new ventures.
Despite women controlling about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending worldwide, the businesses they run only receive under 2% of all venture capital investments.
Data for the U.S. is no different. In 2018, women-owned startups only got 2% of the $85 billion raised for venture capital funding, even though women owned 38% of the businesses.
And women of color fare even worse. Though their companies are the fastest growing segment of female-owned businesses, they received only 0.2% of venture capital funding.
One possible solution is the growing number of women-owned venture capital funds. They are twice as likely as their male-owned counterparts to invest in companies founded by women.
So what’s the answer? Since venture capital is private, direct government involvement is limited. Educating the public, including venture capitalists, may help.
During the past legislative session I co-authored a number of bills designed to heighten public awareness about the need to include women in all areas of the workforce. These included:
- Assembly Concurrent Resolution 8 — “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day”
- Assembly Concurrent Resolution 42 — “Women’s Equal Pay Day”
- Assembly Concurrent Resolution 109 — “Women’s Small Business Month”
- Senate Concurrent Resolution 29 — “Women in Construction Week”
I will continue to work with the Women’s Caucus on legislation that reduces barriers for women as they expand their presence in the front office, and throughout the workforce.
Assemblymember Marie Waldron, a Republican from Valley Center, represents the 75th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Poway, Santee, portions of the City of San Diego, and most of rural eastern and northern San Diego County.
