Gov. John Bel Edwards described Louisiana’s worst-in-the-nation pay gap as an embarrassment, as he renewed his push for an equal pay law today at a summit held to draw attention to the wage disparity.
The Associated Press reports Edwards and his wife headlined the event, seeking to bolster support for a proposed law that would require private businesses in Louisiana to pay the same wages to men and women with the same jobs.
Edwards told the majority-female audience that women in Louisiana earn 66 cents on average for every dollar a man earns, and he said the disparity worsens for women of color. He and first lady Donna Edwards framed a wage equality law as a way to improve economic conditions for Louisiana’s families and children.
“When a woman goes to the grocery store, it’s not 34 cents less because she’s there, or the gasoline’s not 34 cents less because she’s buying it,” Donna Edwards said. “Just think, if women were paid equally, we could possibly cut poverty substantially.”
Lawmakers will consider the proposal, sponsored by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, in the legislative session that begins next month.
Similar legislation won backing from the Senate last year, but was rejected by the House labor committee amid opposition from business groups and Republicans who say it would encourage unnecessary litigation.
The measure again will face difficulty in the majority-GOP Legislature.
