HOUSE MEMORIAL 39

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Gail Chasey and Brian Egolf

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING JANUARY 29, 2016 "LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT DAY" IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

     WHEREAS, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was signed into law on January 29, 2009 to help reduce wage discrimination between men and women; and

     WHEREAS, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that women and men are able to effectively assert their rights under anti-discrimination laws by ensuring that a new statute of limitation period begins with each paycheck that does not reflect pay equity among employees; and

     WHEREAS, women in New Mexico earn only seventy-nine cents ($.79) for every dollar ($1.00) that a man earns for performing the same or similar work; and

     WHEREAS, in 2013, the New Mexico legislature passed the Fair Pay for Women Act that prohibits employers from engaging in gender-based wage discrimination and requires that women be paid fairly at the same rate as their male counterparts; and

     WHEREAS, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, combined with New Mexico's Fair Pay for Women Act, gives women better access to judicial remedies when women do not receive the same rate of pay as their male counterparts for doing the same work; and

     WHEREAS, the Southwest women's law center, a nonprofit state organization, has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and the state's Fair Pay for Women Act;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that January 29, 2016 be declared "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Day" in the house of representatives in honor of the day the federal bill was signed into law; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that support of the continued struggle to create equal pay opportunities for all New Mexico women be recognized; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the board chair of the Southwest women's law center, representatives of the university of New Mexico global innovation exchange, the equal pay today alliance of state-based women's organizations and other organizations that support fair pay for women.

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