2012
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 12-035
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Giron and Aguilar, Bacon, Carroll, Foster, Guzman,
       Hodge, Hudak, Jahn, Johnston, Morse, Nicholson, Schwartz, Steadman,
       Tochtrop, Williams S., Boyd, Brophy, Cadman, Grantham, Harvey,
       Heath, King K., King S., Lambert, Lundberg, Mitchell, Neville, Newell,
       Renfroe, Roberts, Scheffel, Spence, White, Shaffer B.;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Bradford and Peniston, Acree, Fields,
       Hamner, Jones, Kerr A., Labuda, Levy, Massey, Nikkel, Ryden, Schafer
       S., Summers, Todd, Williams A., Wilson, Young, Balmer, Barker,
       Baumgardner, Brown, Conti, Court, Duran, Fischer, Holbert, Kagan,
       Kefalas, Kerr J., Lee, Liston, McCann, Miklosi, Murray, Priola, Ramirez,
       Soper, Stephens, Swalm, Swerdfeger, Szabo, Tyler, Vigil, Waller,
       McNulty.
       
       
          CONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF APRIL 17, 2012, AS
       "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN COLORADO, AND, IN CONNECTION
       THEREWITH, ACKNOWLEDGING THE PERSISTING PROBLEM
       OF WAGE DISPARITY AMONG VARIOUS GROUPS. 
       
       
       
          WHEREAS, Nearly forty-nine years after the passage of the "Equal
       Pay Act of 1963" and Title VII of the "Civil Rights Act", women and
       people of color continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay
       differentials; and
       
          WHEREAS, According to numbers released in 2011 by the U.S.
       Bureau of Labor Statistics, year-round, full-time Colorado working
       women in 2010 earned only 79% of the earnings of year-round, full-time
       working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and
       
          WHEREAS, Women that work in the White House earn 18% less than
       men who work in the White House; and
       
          WHEREAS, Over 208,000 households in Colorado are headed by
       women, and nationally about one-third of employed mothers are the sole
       breadwinners for their families; and
       
          WHEREAS, According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010
       women of color experienced even greater pay disparities, with Colorado
       African-American women earning only 65% and Colorado Latinas
       earning only 56% of the earnings of the highest wage earners; and
       
          WHEREAS, Men of color also experience disparities when their pay
       is compared to that of the highest earners; and
       
          WHEREAS, As women get older, the pay gap widens significantly;
       according to the American Association of University Women, one year
       after graduating college women earn only 80% of what their male
       counterparts earn, and ten years after graduation women earn only 69%
       of what men earn; and
       
          WHEREAS, Over a working lifetime, wage disparities cost the
       average Colorado woman and her family an estimated $429,000 in lost
       wages, also impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and
       
          WHEREAS, Fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply and
       without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private sectors;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, There exists a strong business and public interest case for
       pay equity; and
       
          WHEREAS, Fair pay strengthens the security of families today and
       eases future retirement costs, while enhancing the American economy;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, symbolizes the time in the new
       year in which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages
       paid to men from the previous year; now, therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of
       the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
          That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly:
       
          (1)  Proclaim Tuesday, April 17, 2012, to be "Equal Pay Day" in the
       state of Colorado; and
       
          (2)  Urge governmental agencies, nonprofit and labor organizations,
       businesses, and individuals to take steps to implement fair pay equity
       policies to help close the pay gap for Colorado's women and people of
       color.
       
          Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Resolution be sent to
       the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Brandon C. Shaffer                     Frank McNulty
       PRESIDENT OF                    SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Cindi Markwell                        Marilyn Eddins
       SECRETARY OF                CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES