BILL ANALYSIS Ó AJR 47 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AJR 47 (Block) As Introduced August 13, 2012 Majority vote LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 5-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Swanson, Alejo, Allen, | | | | |Furutani, Yamada | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Morrell | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Urges Congress to reintroduce and adopt the Paycheck Fairness Act to help close the gender wage gap. Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative findings and declarations: 1)Forty-nine years after the passage of the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 and forty-eight years after the passage of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, American women continue to suffer disparities in wages that cannot be accounted for by age, education, or work experience. 2)According to the U.S. Census Bureau, year-round, full-time working women earned only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, indicating little change or progress in pay equity. 3)In 2010, women in California with a high school diploma were paid only 73 cents for every dollar paid to men with a high school diploma, and women in California with a bachelor's degree were paid only 74 cents for every dollar paid to men with a bachelor's degree, which indicates that the wage gap persists at all levels of education. 4)Women have struggled to regain jobs in the economic recovery and continue to face high levels of long-term unemployment, even as their families rely on them more heavily for financial support. 5)The unemployment rate for women in California in 2011 was AJR 47 Page 2 11.4%, a 6.2 percentage-point increase since the recession began in December of 2007, and 45.1% of jobless women workers in California had been looking for work for 27 weeks or more. 6)Wages overall are stagnating and the wage gap has barely budged over the last ten years and while Congress and the President have taken initial steps to improve the laws that govern pay discrimination by passing the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, there is more that must be done to realize the decades-old promise of fair pay for equal work. 7)The Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would give women more protections against wage discrimination, failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate in June 2012 for the second time in two years. 8)The Paycheck Fairness Act would have built upon the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 by protecting workers who inquire about pay disparities from retaliation and punish employers who engage in paycheck discrimination. 9)The California State Legislature fully supports the efforts to ensure pay equity and to protect employees, who seek information about pay without fear of retribution, urges Congress to reintroduce and adopt the Paycheck Fairness Act to help close the gender wage gap. COMMENTS : The author states that it has been nearly 50 years since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and American women continue to suffer disparities in wages that cannot be accounted for by age, education, or work experience. The average woman earns 77% of a man's salary regardless of age, education, or work experience. S. 3220, the Paycheck Fairness Act authored by Senator Barbara Mikulski prevents companies from retaliating against employees who inquire about pay disparities and would permit workers to sue for punitive damages. S. 3220 would protect workers and provide a legal path for women to finally diminish the wage gap. The bill is provisionally dead due to a failed vote for cloture in June 2012. According to the April 2012 National Women's Law Center Report (Report), women have struggled to regain jobs in the recovery AJR 47 Page 3 and continue to face high levels of long-term unemployment, even as their families rely on them more heavily for financial support. Wages over all are stagnating and the wage gap has barely budged over the last ten years. The gap particularly harms women in these economically difficult times, when women the most financially vulnerable, are more likely to turn to public assistance to make ends meet for their families. The Report also states that the wage gap for women persists at all levels of education and exists across numerous occupations. Fair pay would help close the wage gap and increase women's economic security. Finally, the Report says that although Congress has taken initial steps to improve the laws that govern pay discrimination there is more that must be done to realize the decades-old promise of fair pay for equal work. Analysis Prepared by : Lorie Alvarez / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN: 0005743