Senator Jacobs joins colleagues to call for action on equal pay legislation

From the office of Sen. Gilda Jacobs
Tuesday, April 20, 2010

LANSING -- State Senator Gilda Z. Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) joined women legislators from the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives to call for passage of Senate Bill 486, which would make pay discrimination based on sex, religion, race, color, national origin, age, height, weight, or marital status a civil rights violation.

“Women still, after all of these years, make only 71.8 cents for every dollar that a man earns, and it’s high time that we change this,” said Senator Jacobs. “Every dollar counts these days, and as we fight to make ends meet and provide for our families, there is no justification for us to make less money then men. My colleagues and I have been fighting this fight for years. I hope that we can resolve this now, this year, so that our daughters don’t have to engage in this same fight throughout their careers.”

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, in 2009 women earned 80.2 cents on the dollar compared to men in median annual earnings for full-time year-round workers. In Michigan, that gap is even more significant, with women in the state earning 71.8 cents on the dollar. Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year a women must work to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. The disparity in wages is even worse for most women of color.

Senator Jacobs is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 486, and a co-sponsor of Senate Bills 487-489 which also address penalties related to wage discrimination by gender. The bills were introduced last year and have yet to gain a hearing in the Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism.

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Senator Gilda Jacobs represents the 14th Senate District, which includes Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak Township, Southfield and Southfield Township.

She is the Minority Vice Chair of the Campaign & Election Oversight, Families & Human Services and Finance committees. She is a member of the Economic Development & Regulatory Reform and Health Policy committees. She can be reached toll-free in Lansing at 1-888-937-4453.