HLS 15RS-160 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 37
BY REPRESENTATIVES ST. GERMAIN, BARROW, HILL, JACKSON, MORENO,
NORTON, SMITH, THIERRY, WHITNEY, AND WOODRUFF AND SENATORS
BROOME, DORSEY-COLOMB, AND PETERSON
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Recognizes Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day
in Louisiana
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To recognize Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in the state of Louisiana.
3 WHEREAS, for more than fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women,
4especially minority women, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and
5 WHEREAS, House Concurrent Resolution No. 145 of the 2013 Regular Session of
6the Legislature, by Representative Leger, established the Louisiana Fair Pay Task Force to
7study wage disparities between men and women and to make recommendations for policy
8changes and legislation to prevent and eliminate the disparities of unequal pay; and
9 WHEREAS, the findings of the Louisiana Fair Pay Task Force were published and
10submitted to the Legislature of Louisiana on March 1, 2014; some of the findings are
11included within this Resolution; and
12 WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau, full-time working
13women who worked year-round in the year 2013 earned an average of 78% of the earnings
14of their male counterparts, which indicates minimal progress in pay equity; and
15 WHEREAS, nationally, women's median annual earnings were $37,133; the highest
16paid women workers were in the District of Columbia with annual earnings of $60,332,
17while the lowest paid women were in the state of Mississippi with annual earnings of
18$29,548; and
19 WHEREAS, in the state of Louisiana, women represent a steady number of the work
20force comprising of 44.3% of the full-time, year-round Louisiana labor force; and
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HCR NO. 37
1 WHEREAS, in Louisiana, women working full-time, year-round in 2012 earned an
2average of $31,586, which is a decrease of $276 from the 2011 earning average of $31,862;
3and
4 WHEREAS, the decrease in Louisiana women's earnings dropped Louisiana's
5ranking from forty-third to forty-sixth lowest among the fifty states and the District of
6Columbia; and
7 WHEREAS, in contrast, Louisiana men working full-time, year-round earned on
8average $47,249, which is an increase of $936 from 2011, ranking Louisiana men twenty-
9second with average earnings greater than the earnings of men in twenty-nine other states;
10and
11 WHEREAS, nearly four in ten mothers are primary income producers in their
12households, and nearly two-thirds are primary or significant earners, which makes pay equity
13critical to families' economic security; and
14 WHEREAS, in Louisiana, poverty is most prevalent among female-headed families
15with children under eighteen years of age; and
16 WHEREAS, poverty rates were highest in Louisiana for black women and girls at
1736.1%, Hispanic females at 27%, Asian females at 25.6%, and white females at 14.3%; and
18 WHEREAS, in Louisiana, educational attainment is greater for women than for men
19who are twenty-five years of age or older; and
20 WHEREAS, according to one study, 84.7% of Louisiana women have a high school
21education or higher education, compared to men at 81.2%; 15% of women have attained a
22bachelor's degree, compared to men at 13.7%; and 7.8% of women have a graduate or
23professional degree, compared to men at 7.3%; and
24 WHEREAS, in Louisiana, women and men are not paid equitably for their
25educational attainment; and
26 WHEREAS, according to an estimate, college-educated women who work full-time
27earn more than a half-million dollars less than their male peers earn over the course of a
28lifetime; and
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HCR NO. 37
1 WHEREAS, a lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for
2retirement and less income that is calculated in a Social Security or pension benefit formula;
3and
4 WHEREAS, the members of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus who support
5equal pay join with the American Association of University of Women and other women's
6organizations across the state of Louisiana and the United States to share information
7regarding equal pay; and
8 WHEREAS, fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply, without undue costs
9or hardships in both public and private sectors; and
10 WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families and eases future retirement
11costs, while enhancing the American economy; and
12 WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 14, 2015, symbolizes the time in 2015 when the wages
13paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.
14 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
15proclaim Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in Louisiana and urges the citizens of
16Louisiana to recognize the full value of women's skills and their significant contributions to
17the labor force and further encourages businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to
18ensure women are being paid fairly.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
20to the chairperson of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 37 Original 2015 Regular Session St. Germain
Recognizes Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in the state of La.
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