Whereas, According to U.S. Census data released in September of 2002, year-round, full-time working women earned only 76 percent of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little progress in pay equity since 1999; and,

Whereas, The General Accounting Office reported women managers in seven of ten industries surveyed lost ground in closing the wage gap between 1995 and 2000; and,

Whereas, The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics in 2001 reported women earn less in every occupational classification for which data is available; and,

Whereas, According to the U.S. Department of Education, women faculty members earn nearly nine percent less than their male counterparts; and,

Whereas, The State of Michigan ranks forty-eighth in the fifty states in reaching equal pay; and,

Whereas, It is estimated that over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $250,000 in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and,

Whereas, Fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future retirement costs while enhancing the American economy; and,

Whereas, April 15, 2003 symbolizes the day on which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from 2002; and now therefore be it,