Equal Pay Day Resolution - For the third year, I ran a resolution to acknowledge pay inequities between men and women. Women continue to earn only 77 cents for every dollar that their male co-workers earn. This pay disparity is felt even more strongly by women of color. African American women are paid 69 cents on the dollar and Latinas are paid 60 cents on the dollar. This translates into a loss of about $431,000 in pay, on average, over a woman's 40 year career.
Tuesday, April 9th, was Equal Pay Day – a day to recognize and protest this shocking and pervasive wage gap. Tuesday, because it symbolizes how far into a second week a woman must work to earn as much as her male co-worker earned in the previous week. April, because it represents how long a woman must work to earn the same amount that a man earned in the previous year.
Click on this VIDEO to hear my remarks at the rally. The woman at the far right is none other than former Colorado first lady, Dottie Lamm. I think back to all of the girls and young women I have worked with over the past 30 years. They deserve better and need us to ensure better than this system of inequity. Pay equity makes good economic sense. We already have incremental and achievable solutions that will ease future retirement costs and strengthen our economy. We know that when we strengthen the security of mothers, we strengthen the security of families, and we strengthen the security of our country.
Bills - I presented 5 of my bills to Senate Committees this week. It's pretty unusual to be presenting so many in one week and it called for my every spare moment to be spent prepping. SB210 - which seeks to correct the system which determines overtime for correctional officers. and SB216 - which allows the Youth Offender System to continue serving 18 and 19 year olds were presented in front of the Judiciary Committee. I was glad to be able to present both those bills on the same day. The other three, SB207 - the bill granting permission for mental health professionals to use a new technique when treating mental health patients, HB1006 - a bill to provide students breakfast at school, and HB1234 - a bill to allow the Dept of Agriculture authority for consolidation, I presented in Heath and Human Service and the Appropriations Committees. This flurry of activity was in addition to chairing State Affairs Committee, which met twice this week (and heard bills until after 9pm on Monday) and the Capital Development Committee which normally just meets once a week and we had so much work to do that we had to meet twice. On Tuesday, alongside floor debate and the Equal Pay resolution and rally, I participated in a national press call calling for Comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes a pathway to citizenship. Press conferences were a theme throughout the week and I even had a press interview on KGNU radio at 6:30 am on Thursday.
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| Not the greatest picture - most of us are cut out! |
Latin@ Caucus - Our caucus is still going strong! In lieu of our regular weekly meeting, we opted for a bit of social time in Rep. Pabon and Sen. Guzman's district at a popular eatery, Pinche Tacos. It was nice to have a bit of down time with some colleagues and I would certainly recommend the food. All of the tacos we ate were muy, muy, muy delicioso - especially the tacos de lengua!
Missed Opportunity - I was debating bills on the Senate floor until after 10pm on Friday night. No easy task for an early riser (4am) who had to drive back to Pueblo. Sadly, it meant I had to miss speaking at the Spring Migrant Youth Leadership Institute (SMYLI). They had their conference at Pueblo Community College and I was scheduled to speak to them Friday evening. I've spoken to their students the last 2 years and it was a great disappointment to miss out. I'm wearing my SMYLI bracelet with pride all week long. I was glad that my friend, Theresa filled in to share a bit about what's going on at the Capitol!
