AAUW-California-Governor-Guide(P26)

Equal Pay

Where do the candidates stand on Equal Pay issues?

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits sex-based wage discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sex-based discrimination in hiring, firing, and compensation. And yet, the gender pay gap persists. Every group of women in the workforce faces a pay gap, whether they work full-time or part-time and whether they have a high school diploma or an advanced degree. Women in the U.S. working full time are paid $0.81 for every $1.00 earned by men, and when including part-time, seasonal workers, this drops to $0.76. Federal, state, and local legislation is needed to further strengthen fair-pay laws.

The following issue areas related to Equal Pay were assessed:

Does the candidate support strengthening workplace anti-discrimination protections and closing the pay gap in California?
Does the candidate support the continued expansion of the California Equal Pay Act to further strengthen pay transparency and equity?
Does the candidate support legislation and other measures akin to the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17), which strengthen existing employment discrimination laws aimed at closing the gender pay gap?

Candidates' positions on Equal Pay were determined based publicly available information, such as press statements, voting records (in California or Federally), and campaign materials. All candidates were given the opportunity to respond directly to a member of AAUW California's Public Policy team. Candidates' positions on Equal Pay were then scored using the scale below, which gauges candidates' degree of alignment with AAUW California's public policy priorities and positions on Equal Pay.

If candidate responses or public records show that said candidate strongly opposes a key policy or topic within a larger issue area (e.g., does not support policy that expands civil rights for all people), we have placed them in an “oppose” position to the entire issue area (e.g., protection of civil rights).