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HCR25 • 2025

DESIGNATING MARCH 25, 2025 AS "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

DESIGNATING MARCH 25, 2025 AS "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Ross Levin
Last action
2025-03-25
Official status
Passed 3/25/25
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill is a concurrent resolution, which typically expresses legislative sentiment rather than creating binding law or funding programs.

Designating Equal Pay Day in Delaware

This resolution names March 25, 2025, as 'Equal Pay Day' to mark when women's earnings catch up to men's from the previous year.

What This Bill Does

  • Names March 25, 2025, as Equal Pay Day in Delaware.
  • States that this date marks when women earn what men earned last year.
  • Notes that Black and Hispanic women must work longer into the year to reach equal pay.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Women working in Delaware
  • Black, Hispanic, and single-mother households in Delaware

Terms To Know

Equal Pay Day
A symbolic date showing how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned last year.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This resolution does not change any laws or create new rules for employers.
  • It does not provide money to fix pay differences.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced in House

  2. 2025-03-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed In House by Voice Vote

  3. 2025-03-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

Official Summary Text

DESIGNATING MARCH 25, 2025 AS "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
This House Concurrent Resolution designates March 25, 2025 as "Equal Pay Day" in the State of Delaware.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Ross Levin & Rep. Bolden & Rep. Romer & Sen. Lockman

Reps. Burns, Heffernan, K. Johnson, Morrison, Snyder-Hall, Bush, Phillips, Harris; Sens. Mantzavinos, Pinkney, Poore, Sokola, Townsend, Wilson, Huxtable

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 25

DESIGNATING MARCH 25, 2025 AS "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

WHEREAS,

more than 50 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women, especially women of color and single mothers, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and

WHEREAS, the wage gap impacts women in all aspects of life, from the ability to pay off student debt to grappling with the costs of childcare, mortgage and utilities. Regardless of education level or employment industry, the wage gap persists; and

WHEREAS, while March 25

th

marks Equal Pay Day for all women, Black women must work until July 27

th

and Hispanic women until October 3

rd

to earn what men earn

; and

WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women in Delaware working full-time, year-round earned on average 87% of the earnings of men working full-time, year-round; and

WHEREAS, the gap widens in examining wage data for women of color. The most U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey shows Black women make 72%, and Hispanic women make 51% of the earnings of white men, and white women in Delaware earn 81%; and

WHEREAS, in Delaware, women heading single family homes still earn less than their male counterparts.

Delaware

a female householder with a family and no spouse earns 75% of what a male householder earns with a family and no spouse; and

WHEREAS, women are the breadwinners in close to

across the United States, and about one-third of those family households have incomes that fall below the poverty line; and

WHEREAS, this year marks sixteen years since Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which expanded important protections against pay discrimination; and

WHEREAS, the 148

th

General Assembly in 2015 passed landmark legislation requiring companies that award a state contract to certify that it engages in fair wage practices and will provide equal pay for equal work; and

WHEREAS, additional fair pay equity policies can be implemented without undue cost or hardship in both the public and private sectors; and

WHEREAS, March 25

th

symbolizes the point in the year when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED

by the House of Representatives of the 153rd General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that March 25, 2025, is designated as “Equal Pay Day” in the State of Delaware.

SYNOPSIS

This House Concurrent Resolution designates March 25, 2025 as "Equal Pay Day" in the State of Delaware.