ENROLLED
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
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To recognize Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in the state of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, for more than fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women,
especially minority women, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and
WHEREAS, House Concurrent Resolution No. 145 of the 2013 Regular Session of
the Legislature, by Representative Leger, established the Louisiana Fair Pay Task Force to
study wage disparities between men and women and to make recommendations for policy
changes and legislation to prevent and eliminate the disparities of unequal pay; and
WHEREAS, the findings of the Louisiana Fair Pay Task Force were published and
submitted to the Legislature of Louisiana on March 1, 2014; some of the findings are
included within this Resolution; and
WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau, full-time working
women who worked year-round in the year 2013 earned an average of 78% of the earnings
of their male counterparts, which indicates minimal progress in pay equity; and
WHEREAS, nationally, women's median annual earnings were $37,133; the highest
paid women workers were in the District of Columbia with annual earnings of $60,332,
while the lowest paid women were in the state of Mississippi with annual earnings of
$29,548; and
WHEREAS, in the state of Louisiana, women represent a steady number of the work
force comprising of 44.3% of the full-time, year-round Louisiana labor force; and
WHEREAS, in Louisiana, women working full-time, year-round in 2012 earned an
average of $31,586, which is a decrease of $276 from the 2011 earning average of $31,862;
and
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WHEREAS, the decrease in Louisiana women's earnings dropped Louisiana's
ranking from forty-third to forty-sixth lowest among the fifty states and the District of
Columbia; and
WHEREAS, in contrast, Louisiana men working full-time, year-round earned on
average $47,249, which is an increase of $936 from 2011, ranking Louisiana men twenty-
second with average earnings greater than the earnings of men in twenty-nine other states;
and
WHEREAS, nearly four in ten mothers are primary income producers in their
households, and nearly two-thirds are primary or significant earners, which makes pay equity
critical to families' economic security; and
WHEREAS, in Louisiana, poverty is most prevalent among female-headed families
with children under eighteen years of age; and
WHEREAS, poverty rates were highest in Louisiana for black women and girls at
36.1%, Hispanic females at 27%, Asian females at 25.6%, and white females at 14.3%; and
WHEREAS, in Louisiana, educational attainment is greater for women than for men
who are twenty-five years of age or older; and
WHEREAS, according to one study, 84.7% of Louisiana women have a high school
education or higher education, compared to men at 81.2%; 15% of women have attained a
bachelor's degree, compared to men at 13.7%; and 7.8% of women have a graduate or
professional degree, compared to men at 7.3%; and
WHEREAS, in Louisiana, women and men are not paid equitably for their
educational attainment; and
WHEREAS, according to an estimate, college-educated women who work full-time
earn more than a half-million dollars less than their male peers earn over the course of a
lifetime; and
WHEREAS, a lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for
retirement and less income that is calculated in a Social Security or pension benefit formula;
and
WHEREAS, the members of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus who support
equal pay join with the American Association of University of Women and other women's
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organizations across the state of Louisiana and the United States to share information
regarding equal pay; and
WHEREAS, fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply, without undue costs
or hardships in both public and private sectors; and
WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families and eases future retirement
costs, while enhancing the American economy; and
WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 14, 2015, symbolizes the time in 2015 when the wages
paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
proclaim Tuesday, April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in Louisiana and urges the citizens of
Louisiana to recognize the full value of women's skills and their significant contributions to
the labor force and further encourages businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to
ensure women are being paid fairly.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the chairperson of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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