Senate Concurrent Resolution 531

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO DESIGNATE APRIL 2, 2019, AS "EQUAL PAY DAY IN MISSISSIPPI."

WHEREAS, Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages; and

WHEREAS, the next Equal Pay Day is Tuesday, April 2, 2019. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year; and

WHEREAS, since census statistics showing the latest wage figures will not be available until late August or September, NCPE leadership decided years ago to select a Tuesday in April as Equal Pay Day. Tuesday was selected to represent how far into the next work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week. The date also is selected to avoid religious holidays and other significant events; and

WHEREAS, pay equity is measured by the worth of the work you do in your work environment regardless of gender. It is like comparing the worth of an apple to the worth of an orange. It is not necessarily the same type of jobs at all. Pay equity is equal pay for work of equal value and it is not only applied to women but all work sectors. In applying it this is when the truth comes out about the disparity between the men's pay and the women's because it sticks out like a sore thumb for all to see in the results of the surveys. So statistics show that; and

WHEREAS, because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same pay. On this day women's business and professional associations, labor groups, civil rights organizations and others committed to equal pay coordinate activities to raise awareness about how to solve wage inequity:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby designate April 2, 2019, as "Equal Pay Day in Mississippi" to bring awareness to wage inequity.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.