ACR 50, as introduced, Gonzalez. Equal Pay Day
This measure would proclaim April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, More than 50 years after the passage of the Equal
2Pay Act, women, especially minority women, continue to suffer
3the consequences of unequal pay; and
4WHEREAS, According to a report by the National Partnership
5for Women & Families, women in California earned a median of
6$0.84 for each dollar earned by men as of October 2014; and
7WHEREAS, As reported by the United States Census Bureau,
8women working full time, year round in 2013, typically earned 78
9percent of what men earned, indicating little change or progress
10in pay equity; and
11WHEREAS, According to “Graduating to a Pay Gap,” a 2012
12research report by the American Association of University Women
13(AAUW), the gender pay gap is evident one year after college
14graduation, even after controlling for factors known to affect
P2 1earnings, such as occupation, hours worked, and college major;
2and
3WHEREAS, In 2011, the
Georgetown University Center on
4Education and the Workforce found that college-educated women
5working full time earn $650,000 less than their male peers do over
6the course of a lifetime; and
7WHEREAS, In 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed
8into law, which gives back to employees their day in court to
9challenge a pay gap, and now we must pass the Paycheck Fairness
10Act, which would amend the Equal Pay Act by closing loopholes
11and improving the law’s effectiveness; and
12WHEREAS, Nearly four in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners
13in their households and nearly two-thirds are primary or significant
14earners, making pay equity critical to families’ economic security;
15and
16WHEREAS, A lifetime of lower pay means women have less
17income to save for retirement and less income counted in a social
18security or pension benefit formula; and
19WHEREAS, Fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply
20and without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private
21sectors; and
22WHEREAS, Fair pay strengthens the security of families today
23and eases future retirement costs while enhancing the American
24economy; and
25WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 14, symbolizes the time in 2015
26when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages
27paid to men from the previous year; now, therefore, be it
28Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
29thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims Tuesday, April
3014, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate
31the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to
32ensure equal pay for all; and be it further
33Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
34of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
O
99