2014
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 14-026
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Zenzinger and Kerr, Aguilar, Guzman, Heath, Hodge,
       Johnston, Jones, Kefalas, Newell, Nicholson, Schwartz, Steadman,
       Tochtrop, Todd, Ulibarri, Carroll;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Peniston and Duran, Becker, Buckner,
       Court, Exum, Fields, Fischer, Foote, Garcia, Ginal, Hamner,
       Hullinghorst, Kraft-Tharp, Labuda, Lebsock, Lee, McCann, Melton,
       Mitsch Bush, Moreno, Pabon, Pettersen, Primavera, Rosenthal, Ryden,
       Salazar, Schafer, Singer, Tyler, Vigil, Williams, Wright, Young,
       Ferrandino.
       
       
          CONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF APRIL 8, 2014, AS
       "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN COLORADO, AND, IN CONNECTION
       THEREWITH, ACKNOWLEDGING THE PERSISTING PROBLEM
       OF WAGE DISPARITY AMONG VARIOUS GROUPS. 
       
       
          WHEREAS, Fifty years after the passage of the federal "Equal Pay
       Act of 1963", pay discrimination continues to be a real and persistent
       problem that shortchanges American women and people of color and their
       families; and
       
          WHEREAS, As the majority of women are primary or
       co-breadwinners, pay inequity can make an enormous difference in a
       family's ability to make ends meet; and
       
          WHEREAS, According to a 2014 report using American Community
       Survey data based on 2012 annual earnings, the average woman in
       Colorado earned 80 cents for every dollar earned by a man in a similar
       position; and
       
          WHEREAS, For Colorado women of color the gap is even wider, as
       African-American women earned only 67.5 cents and Latinas just 52.5
       cents for every dollar earned by Caucasian men, the highest earners in the
       state, in 2012; and
       
          WHEREAS, Men of color also face pay disparity compared to the
       highest earners; and
       
          WHEREAS, Fair pay strengthens the security of families today and
       eases future retirement costs while also enhancing the American
       economy; and
       
          WHEREAS, Providing equal pay and offering workplace flexibility
       help employers recruit and retain the most qualified employees in their
       field and increase productivity and profits; and
       
          WHEREAS, To achieve pay equity, we need to combat
       discrimination, properly value women's care work, develop effective
       policies and programs to educate and train women and people of color for
       higher-paying jobs, and give women and people of color the tools they
       need to get the pay they deserve; and
       
          WHEREAS, Fair pay policies can be implemented easily and without
       undue costs in the private and public sectors; and
       
          WHEREAS, Individuals, businesses, nonprofit and labor
       organizations, and governmental agencies each have a role in closing the
       wage gap; and
       
          WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, symbolizes the time in the
       current 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-ninth 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 8, 2014, to be "Equal Pay Day" in the
       state of Colorado; and
       
          (2)  Urge governmental agencies, businesses, nonprofit and labor
       organizations, 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
       all elected federal officials who represent the state of Colorado; to 9to5
       Colorado, who will send a copy of this Joint Resolution to Equal Pay Day
       sponsors: American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado; Blackwell
       Communications; Citizens Project; Colorado Center on Law and Policy;
       Colorado Fiscal Institute; Colorado Jobs with Justice; Colorado
       Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights; Colorado
       Women's Chamber of Commerce; Gerdine Financial; Jewish Women's
       Fund; League of Women Voters of Colorado; NARAL Pro-Choice
       Colorado Foundation; One Colorado; Planned Parenthood of the Rocky
       Mountains; Service Employees International Union Local 105; Women's
       Collaborative for Colorado; and Women's Foundation of Colorado.
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Morgan Carroll                       Mark Ferrandino
       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