Today, women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men while African Americans earn 78 cents and Latinos earn 68 cents for every dollar paid to their white counterparts. Over the past four years, the majority of states have introduced Equal Pay Legislation, and we want to continue the trend while increasing the effectiveness of the laws. The Equal Pay Remedies and Enforcement Act , to be introduced this session, is a very workable, straightforward solution that encourages enforcement of the existing Equal Pay laws and institutes a statewide job evaluation study, a necessary step to deal with the structural problem of unequal pay. The Act enhances penalties for the violation of existing state equal pay law, and establishes an Equal Pay Commission to study the extent, cause and consequences of wage disparities as well as actions that are likely to lead to the end of such wage disparities. Please review the materials enclosed.
Equal pay is a nonpartisan concern that is strongly supported by women and men across party lines.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration. We look forward to discussing this with you further.