HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 33
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Staton, Pino, Smirl, Douglas, Amores, Jenkins, Manuel, Tillis, Whitman, Johnson, Riggs, Preece, Collins, Linch, Hutchins and Kime)

[Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary}
[February 27, 1995]

Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the economic status of women in the State of West Virginia by creating a task force to study and recommend future legislative action be undertaken to promote state policies directed to enhance the economic development of the women of West Virginia.

Whereas, The ability of a woman to be independent is directly related to her ability to support herself financially; and
Whereas, Women who are victims of domestic violence cite the inability to support themselves as the primary reason for staying with abusive partners; and
Whereas, According to the nineteen hundred ninety census, women in West Virginia earn fifty-eight cents for every dollar earned by men and that this wage gap is caused in part by the fact that approximately eighty percent of working women in this State hold jobs which are traditionally dominated by women, where the skills, education and experience required to perform those jobs are undervalued economically; and
Whereas, Seventy-seven percent of the children in West Virginia under the age of three who live with a single mother live in poverty; and
Whereas, The percentage of women in the labor force has continued to increase at the same time the percentage of men in the labor force has declined; and
Whereas, Many of the jobs held by single mothers continue to be predominantly in traditionally low paying jobs; and
Whereas, Women in West Virginia comprise only two percent of skilled trade workers, and these workers make an average of five times the minimum wage; and
Whereas, The availability of child care and elder care is limited in the majority of counties and there are no licensed child care facilities in some areas of this State, resulting in a lack of access to care for the children or elder dependents of working mothers; and
Whereas, The Legislature recognizes that these conditions are directly related to the low economic status of many West Virginia citizens; and
Whereas, The Legislature hereby finds that an entity should be created to study, review and examine the economic condition of women in this State with a goal of determining methods by which the Legislature, through the enactment of appropriate laws, may ameliorate and remedy the findings described herein; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That a task force be appointed; with three members of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate and three members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, with no more than two of the three members appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Delegates, respectively, being members of the same political party; with additional appointments including one representative from the business community and one representative from the labor community to be appointed by agreement of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Delegates; three representatives from statewide nonprofit women's organizations whose missions include a commitment to economic equity to be appointed by agreement of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates; one representative from the bureau of children and families, one representative from the Child Advocate Office, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources; one representative from the Division of Labor and one representative from the West Virginia Development Office, each to be appointed by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Commerce; one representative from the Governor's Cabinet on Children and Families to be appointed by the Governor; one representative from the Division of Job Training Programs and one representative from the Division of Employment Service, each to be appointed by the Commissioner of Employment Programs; and the Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity or his or her designee; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the powers and duties of the task forceshall include, but are not limited to: Studying the status and effectiveness of laws relating to the economic condition of women, including women as employees and consumers; studying the systemic causes resulting in the continued wage gap between men and women, with an emphasis on resolving barriers to women improving their skills, education and job experience; studying the present locations and the need to establish other licensed day care and elder care facilities in this State; utilizing the West Virginia University's Institute for Public Affairs and the Marshall University Research and Economic Development Center for gathering statistical and other information relevant to the impact of state programs on women and other issues relating to the economic condition of women; reviewing legislation and programs established in other states relative to improving the economic condition of women; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the task force file a report, on or before the first day of each regular session of the Legislature, which includes recommendations and drafts of legislation necessary to effectuate such recommendations.