Over 25 States Push for Equal Pay in 2001

CPA Coordinates Legislative Challenge to Close the Wage Gap

On February 7, state legislators, union leaders and grassroots advocates held press conferences in 13 states across the country (AL, AZ, CO, CT, GA, MA, MN, NM, NV, SC, TX, WI, WV) to sound a legislative "Challenge to Secure Equal Pay for Working Families." The events were coordinated by the Center for Policy Alternatives.

"We’re here to issue a challenge to other legislators to assure equal pay for working families," declared New Mexico Representative Mimi Stewart (Fleming Fellow ’96) at a press conference with Republican and Democratic women legislators. "With many working families relying on a single mother for income, the effect of pay disparity is felt by all across society," she said.

Over 25 states are working to close the wage gap in the 2001 sessions; 53 bills have been introduced as of March. One-third of the bills introduced have bipartisan sponsorship, including legislation in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont.

One approach to close the wage gap, the "Equal Pay Remedies and Enforcement Act," would toughen penalties for violations of existing state equal pay law, and create a statewide job evaluation study to assess the causes of wage inequities and make state-specific recommendations. Job evaluation studies of wage discrimination are commonplace procedures in both the public and private sectors, and similar studies have been performed in a number of states (WA, NH, VT, IN).

Georgia Governor Roy Barnes talked passionately about investing in women’s leadership and expressed support for equal pay and increasing the minimum wage with Senator Connie Stokes (Flemming Fellow ’96), Senator Donzella James (Flemming Fellow `95), CPA Vice-President of Leadership Initiatives Jane Gruenebaum, and other leading state officials at a recent Georgia press conference.

"States are proposing very workable, straightforward solutions," states Linda Tarr-Whelan, CPA President.

On average, families lose over $4,000 each year due to the gender wage gap. According to the Census Bureau, women earn 72 cents for every dollar earned by men. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses a different set of data for the wage gap by race, finding that African-Americans are paid 78 cents for every dollar earned by whites and Latinos earn 67 cents.

More than half of women workers are concentrated in sales, clerical and service jobs including child care, elder care and nursing—jobs that continue to be underpaid because they are seen as "women’s work." Studies have shown that these positions typically pay less than jobs traditionally held by men, even if they require the same skill, effort and responsibility to do the work. Research also shows that the wage gap exists regardless of occupation or title—women who are managers, physicians and computer programmers are paid less than their male counterparts.

Bobbie Gang, with the Nevada Women’s Lobby, says the goal of the equal pay drive is not to force private employers to increase wages paid to women and minorities, but to induce governments to take the lead in increasing pay in positions where they are underpaid. "Some companies are far ahead," she said. "They have voluntarily put in place inequity remedies. Reasonable people can look at the disparities and make changes."

States working on equal pay in 2001:
AK AL AZ CA CO CT FL GA IA IL IN MA ME MN	MO MS NV NM NY PA RI SC TN TX VA VT WI WV

For more information about state action on equal pay, and to download CPA’s Equal Pay Policy and Media Toolkit with state specific data, click here.