*** No candidate for Governor has been endorsed by the CDP ***
Today is Equal Pay Day, 100 days into this new year — that means, on average, women need to work until April 10th to earn what men earned last year. And African American woman will not reach this day until September, and Latinas won’t until November. This is not acceptable.
I reiterate my commitment to gender parity in leadership and staffing, and equal pay in the next administration and I challenge my fellow top candidates (who all happen to be male) to join me in this commitment. You can read or share my statement here.
With a racist misogynist in the White House presiding over our federal government, it’s now more important than ever that our state government reaffirms the value of women in society–starting with the next governor’s administration–including leadership, staffing, appointments to commissions, and closing the gender pay gap by guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.
As State Superintendent I was accused of having a department run by women. I did a study that determined 57 percent of my leadership team was female. You wouldn’t call a department with 57 percent men a “department run by men”.
The desperate need for pay equity in state government was showcased by a 2016 report from the California Department of Human Resources. Women in the state workforce earn 79.5 cents to the dollar earned by their male colleagues. That is more than a 20% difference, which is a greater pay gap than private sector workers or federal employees.
Sadly, there’s also a pay gap when it comes to political fundraising for women. Donate today to help us get the word out in these last eight weeks of the campaign.
In solidarity,
Delaine