SACRAMENTO, CA – A gender pay equity bill authored by Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Napa) was passed by the state Assembly on Wednesday with bipartisan support. The legislation would require companies that contract with the state to have policies in place to help ensure gender pay equity and to provide data on employee income by gender and race to the state.
“We need to ensure people aren’t paid less for doing the same job simply because of their gender or the color of their skin. The advancement of gender pay equity has been overlooked for too long,” said Assemblymember Dodd. “This legislation takes a step towards closing the gender pay gap, and I will continue pushing for positive change.”
The gender pay gap amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, and in 2013, the pay gap between men and women averaged nearly $11,000 annually in lost income. Full-time working women in the U.S. have continued to earn an average of just 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts over the last decade. The disparity is even greater for women of color, and numerous studies have found a gap persists even when controlling for factors like education and career field.
“While the gender pay gap is a problem for women, it’s also a problem for our entire society. If we fail to bring change, working women and families will continue to be shortchanged,” Dodd said. “Hard working Californians and future generations, including my granddaughters, need us to step up.”
While aggregate data on the gender pay gap is available, more nuanced data is needed in order to help the state appropriately target its efforts to reduce and eliminate the wage gap. Last year, President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Labor to collect the gender and race pay data from federal contractors to fill in missing pieces.
AB 1354 seeks to do the same for California, while also requiring policies and procedures that will help contractors avoid unlawful pay disparities. The bill, which is co-authored by several legislators, including Senator Lois Wolk and Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, will now move on to the Senate.
Other legislation by Assemblymember Dodd that passed the Assembly this week includes a bill that would develop the state’s first statewide framework for low income water rate assistance, a bill that would evaluate ways to ensure seniors can better access critical state services, and a bill providing relief to communities impacted by last year’s South Napa earthquake.
Assemblymember Bill Dodd represents the 4th Assembly District, which includes all or portions of Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano, and Colusa Counties. You can learn more about Assemblymember Dodd and the district at www.asm.ca.gov/dodd.
