Date of Hearing: April 8, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES

Ken Cooley, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SCR 26

Author:(Jackson) – As Introduced Ver:March 14, 2019

SENATE VOTE: 34-0

SUBJECT: Equal Pay Day.

SUMMARY: Proclaims Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 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. Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative findings:

1. More than 50 years after the passage of the federal Equal Pay Act, women, especially minority women, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay.
2. According to the 2018 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California by Mount Saint Mary’s University, the gender wage gap for full-time, year-round workers in California is $0.12, meaning California women only take home 88% of men’s earnings or $7,000 a year less than men. In 2017, median annual earnings in the U.S. for full-time workers were $41,977 for women, compared to $52,146 for men, a ratio of 80 cents on the dollar.
3. According to the American Association of University Women’s report “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap,” the gender pay gap exists for every age group: women ages 20-24 make 90% of what men make, women ages 25-54 are paid 78-89% of what men make, and women ages 55 to 65 are paid 78% of what men make.
4. The pay gap contributes to women’s poverty; and if the gap narrows at the same rate of change since 2001, it will not close until 2106.
5. In order to address the persistent problem, both public and private data gathering is needed so that gaps can be better identified and addressed.
6. In 2015, the California Legislature passed SB 358, known as the California Fair Pay Act, strengthening the state’s existing Equal Pay Act by eliminating loopholes that prevented effective enforcement of gender-based discrimination and empowering employees to discuss pay without fear of retaliation, providing one more tool to tackle the problem.
7. Almost two-thirds of women in California are employed, and nearly four in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners in their households. Two-thirds of mothers are primary or significant earners, making pay equity critical to families’ economic security.
8. A lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for retirement and less income counted in a social security or pension benefit formula.
9. Fair pay policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private sectors as evidenced by the work of this state’s Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
10. Fair pay strengthens the security of families today, reduces the need for the public safety net and provides a more secure retirement while enhancing the American economy.
11. Tuesday, April 2, symbolizes the time in 2019 when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.

FISCAL EFFECT: None

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800

 THIRD READING 

Bill No: SCR 26

Author: Jackson (D), et al.

Introduced: 3/14/19

Vote: 21

SUBJECT: Equal Pay Day

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This resolution proclaims Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 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.

ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings:

1. More than 50 years after the passage of the federal Equal Pay Act, women continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay.
2. According to the 2018 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California by Mount Saint Mary’s University, the gender wage gap for full-time, year-round workers in California is $0.12, meaning California women only take home 88% of men’s earnings or $7,000 a year less than men. In 2017, median annual earnings in the U.S. for full-time workers were $41,977 for women, compared to $52,146 for men, a ratio of 80 cents on the dollar.
3. According to the American Association of University Women’s report “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap,” the gender pay gap exists for every age group: women ages 20-24 make 90% of what men make, women ages 25-54 are paid 78-89% of what men make, and women ages 55 to 65 are paid 78% of what men make.
4. The pay gap contributes to women’s poverty; and if the gap narrows at the same rate of change since 2001, it will not close until 2106.
5. In order to address the persistent problem, both public and private data gathering is needed so that gaps can be better identified and addressed.
6. In 2015, the California Legislature passed SB 358, known as the California Fair Pay Act, strengthening the state’s existing Equal Pay Act by eliminating loopholes that prevented effective enforcement of gender-based discrimination and empowering employees to discuss pay without fear of retaliation, providing one more tool to tackle the problem.
7. Almost two-thirds of women in California are employed, and nearly four in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners in their households. Two-thirds of mothers are primary or significant earners, making pay equity critical to families’ economic security.
8. A lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for retirement and less income counted in a social security or pension benefit formula.
9. Fair pay policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private sectors as evidenced by the work of this state’s Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
10. Fair pay strengthens the security of families today, reduces the need for the public safety net and provides a more secure retirement while enhancing the American economy.
11. Tuesday, April 2, symbolizes the time in 2019 when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.

This resolution proclaims Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 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.

Related/Prior Legislation

ACR 204 (Baker, Resolution Chapter 52, Statutes of 2018) proclaimed Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 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.

SCR 37 (Jackson, Resolution Chapter 45, Statutes of 2017) proclaimed Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 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 EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No

SUPPORT: (Verified 3/27/19)

American Association of University Women

OPPOSITION: (Verified 3/27/19)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The American Association of University Women writes, “There remains a disparity in earnings due to the different choices that men and women make in education, employment, and work-­‐life balance. However, to explain the wage gap as solely the result of choices made is intellectually dishonest and ignores the massive amount of research by statisticians who have controlled for those factors and still found an “unexplained” wage gap. Unless there is an important factor that every statistician studying this issue has for some reason missed, that wage gap is attributable solely to being a woman. Thank you for introducing this important Resolution and recognizing the economic inequality that continues to work against the empowerment of women.”

Prepared by: Melissa Ward / SFA / (916) 651-1520

3/27/19 14:51:52

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