Hawaii-2011-HR49-Introduced

WHEREAS, more women in the United States are obtaining college degrees and increasing their participation in the labor force; and

WHEREAS, family-friendly legislation, including the Equal Pay Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and policies such as flex time and telecommuting, have increased options to create a win-win situation for women and their employers; and

WHEREAS, despite the progress, women continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials: in 2009, the median earnings of a woman working full-time, year-round was $36,278 compared to $47,127 for a man, and in 2009, women earned only 77 cents on the dollar to their male counterparts; and

WHEREAS, pay disparities affect women of all ages, races, and education levels, but are more pronounced for women of color; and

WHEREAS, to match men's earnings for 2009, women would have had to work from January 2009 to mid-April 2010 -- an extra three-and-a-half months –- and the recognition of Equal Pay Day on a Tuesday in April symbolizes the point in the next year to which a woman must work to achieve pay equity for the previous year; and

WHEREAS, women are more likely to enter poverty in old age for several reasons:

(1) A lifetime of lower wages means women have less income to save for retirement, and less income that counts in their Social Security or pension benefit formula;

(2) The current life expectancy for women is approaching 86 years old, which means they are expected to outlive men by an average of three years and will have to stretch their retirement savings which are less to begin with, over a longer period of time; and

(3) The median income of older women is almost half of what it is for older men;

and

WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families and eases future retirement costs while enhancing the American economy; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the fourth Tuesday in April of every year is hereby recognized as Equal Pay Day in Hawaii to bring attention to the struggle for pay equity, on which all state and county employees and officials are urged to wear red to show their support for equal pay for all; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to support legislation to provide more effective remedies for victims of wage discrimination based on gender, such as the legislation contained in the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, introduced in 2007 to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies for victims of wage discrimination based on gender; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation and the Governor.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Women; Equal Pay

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	49
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII