Oklahoma Rep's join national push to close gender pay gap
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Representatives Jason Dunnington and Emily Virgin join national push to close gender pay gap despite a federal law enacted in 2009 which required equal pay for women. Progress on closing the gender pay gap has stalled in recent years.
Nationally, women make only 79 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same work. In Oklahoma, that number is even worse: 73.5 cents on the dollar. This places Oklahoma at 44th in the nation for the gender pay gap. For women of color in Oklahoma, the gap is much greater: Native American women earn 63.1 cents, African-American women earn 62.5 cents and Latinas earn only 51 cents per dollar made by their white male counterparts. This is particularly troubling for the more than 180,000 Oklahoma households supported by single women.
At a press conference in the Press Room of the Oklahoma State Capitol (Room 432-B), Representative Jason Dunnington (D-Oklahoma City) and Representative Emily Virgin (D-Norman) will discuss the details of their equal pay legislation and plans to move it forward during the 2016 legislative session.
Dunnington and Virgin have invited all female legislators and Governor Fallin to attend this press conference. “I don’t see this is as a partisan issue. With more women enrolled in college and graduate school than men around the country, if Oklahoma wants to attract and retain the best and brightest workforce in business, science, technology, and beyond, then we need our policy to match our rhetoric when it comes to wage equality,” Dunnington said. Virgin added, “This is a problem that affects Democrats and Republicans in the same way. All Oklahomans should be concerned about this issue. When women succeed, we all succeed.”
Oklahoma State Representatives Jason Dunnington and Emily Virgin will host an “Equal Pay Can’t Wait” News Conference and Bill Introduction Wednesday, January 27, 10:30 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Capitol, Press Room (432-B) 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73105.
All are encouraged to attend.
The Gayly - 1/25/2016 @ 2:59 pm CST