LATE    ADOPTED – APRIL 28, 2009

Agenda Item No. 26

Introduced by the:

INGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

RESOLUTION DESIGNATING APRIL 28, 2009 AS EQUAL PAY DAY IN INGHAM COUNTY

RESOLUTION #09-127

WHEREAS, forty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and

WHEREAS, according to statistics released in 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau, year-round, full-time working women earned only 78 percent of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

WHEREAS, higher education is not free from wage discrimination according to a U.S. Department of Education analysis, reporting that full-time female faculty members earn nearly nine percent less than their male counterparts; and

WHEREAS, over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pension; and

WHEREAS, Michigan is ranked 49th in the U.S. for women's wage parity with men; and

WHEREAS, women are paid on average 67 cents for every dollar a man earns in Michigan; and

WHEREAS, fair pay policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs or hardships in both the public and private sectors; and

WHEREAS, fair pay policies would raise family income and strengthen the security of working families while amplifying our economy; and

WHEREAS, April 28, 2009, symbolizes the time in the new year in which the wages paid to women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year; and

WHEREAS, the Ingham County Women's Commission recognizes April 28, 2009 as Equal Pay Day.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners hereby designates April 28, 2009 as Equal Pay Day in Ingham County.

SS\       Bahar-Cook, Celentino, Copedge, Davis, De Leon, Dougan, Grebner, Holman, Koenig, McGrain, Nolan, Schafer, Schor, Tennis, Thomas and Vickers