Montana Governor Creates Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force to Address State’s Wage Gap

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There are a lot of different metrics used to rank the states and the District of Columbia. Geographic size, population, and various economic measures are particularly popular. Naturally, I’m sure you’ve wondered how Montana, or “The Treasure State,” compares to all of the other states. Well, Montana is big: it is ranked 4th in geographic size. It doesn’t have too many people, though, and it ranks near the bottom on population metrics: it is 44th in population and 48th in population density. Unfortunately, Montana also ranks near the bottom of all the states, and the District of Columbia, based on its wage gap. Data compiled by the National Women’s Law Center places Montana 43rd in the wage gap rankings: women in the state earn 74.6 cents for every dollar earned by their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts.

On the 50th Anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, Montana Governor Steve Bullock decided to tackle the wage gap problem head on by creating the Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force to determine whether there is inequality in pay for women. Montana has an impressive history of advocating for women: Montana women earned the right to vote in 1914, six years before the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, and the first woman ever elected to Congress, Jeannette Rankin, hailed from “Big Sky Country.”

Unfortunately, history has failed to repeat itself and the 49.8% of women who currently reside in the state are being undervalued. The creation of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force signals a great leap forward for the women of Montana. As the NWLC Report, 50 Years and Counting: The Unfinished Business of Achieving Fair Pay found:

Both at the federal level and in the states, commissions and taskforces have played an important role in focusing policymakers on the need to close the wage gap. . . . [M]any of the states that have implemented strong equal pay policies have begun the process with the help of a commission tasked with identifying solutions to close the wage gap.

The Report also highlights a number of states that successfully implemented commission recommendations with great results: New Mexico Taskforce on Fair and Equal Pay brought about the passage of the Fair Pay for Women Act and Vermont’s Commission on Women has brought stakeholders from all sectors together on the issue of fair pay.

The Governor’s announcement comes on the heels of the Equal Pay Today! Campaign’s delivery of a letter to the Governor of every state about the need to close the gender wage gap and the steps to do it. The Campaign letter went out on June 10, 2013 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. We applaud Governor Bullock and we hope that other Governors will soon follow suit! A commission is not enough to bring about wholesale change, but by raising the profile of the issue and providing state-specific recommendations, state commissions and taskforces, like the one created in Montana, have shown real leadership in the fight for equal pay.