1999








HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1026

BY REPRESENTATIVES Leyba, Bacon, Chavez, Clarke, Coleman, Gagliardi, Gordon, Gotlieb, Grossman, Hagedorn, Hoppe, Kaufman, McElhany, Miller, Morrison, Ragsdale, Saliman, Smith, Takis, Tapia, Taylor, Tochtrop, Tupa, Veiga, Vigil, Windels, Zimmerman;

also SENATORS Rupert, Anderson, Arnold, Blickensderfer, Chlouber, Congrove, Dennis, Dyer, Epps, Evans, Feeley, Hernandez, Lacy, Linkhart, Martinez, Matsunaka, Musgrave, Nichol, Owen, Pascoe, Perlmutter, Phillips, Powers, Reeves, Sullivant, Tanner, Tebedo, Thiebaut, Wattenberg, and Weddig.

CONCERNING THE RECOGNITION OF APRIL 8, 1999, AS NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY.

WHEREAS, More than thirty­five years after the passage of the federal "Equal Pay Act of 1963", wage discrimination and an unfair gap between the salaries of women and men continue to exist; and

WHEREAS, Nationally, women are paid only seventy­four cents for each dollar men earn, and the gap is even larger for women of color, with African­American women earning sixty­three cents and Latinas earning fifty­four cents for each dollar men earn; and

WHEREAS, April 8th is the day on which American women's wages for 1999, when added to their 1998 earnings, will finally equal what American men earned in 1998; and

WHEREAS, Equal pay is a long­term investment that strengthens the security of families today and enhances retirement tomorrow; and

WHEREAS, Equal pay benefits business with improved employee loyalty and productivity and with a strengthening of American prosperity and our economy; and

WHEREAS, The struggle for pay equity reflects American values of fairness, justice, and equality; and

WHEREAS, On April 8, 1999, women and men across the nation will join together to raise awareness of the wage gap; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

That we, the members of the Sixty­second General Assembly, recognize April 8, 1999, as National Equal Pay Day.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Resolution be sent to Vicki L. Armstrong, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and Alexis M. Herman, United States Secretary of Labor.

_________________________ _________________________

Russell George Ray Powers

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PRESIDENT OF THE

OF REPRESENTATIVES SENATE

_________________________ _________________________

Judith M. Rodrigue Patricia K. Dicks

CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE SECRETARY OF

OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE