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Gov’s Wife: Stop Paying Women Less Than Men for Doing the Same Jobs

SACRAMENTO OBSERVER — Diane Shelton was proud of her professional life. For more than 25 years, she held steady government jobs with the state Assembly as a legislative consultant, capitol office director, legislative director and chief of staff for seven different Assembly members, starting in 1984. When she got her first job with the Assembly, there were only 7 Blacks out of 120 members of the state legislature, and just a handful of African-American staffers.

Published

6 years ago

September 19, 2019

Sacramento Observer staff report

First Partner Jennifer Seibel Newsom moderates a panel with the youngest editor-and-chief of Teen Vogue Elaine Welteroth and Legislative Black Caucus Chair, Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) to discuss real life experiences affecting women and African American women on pay equity at Sacramento State University Aug 27, 2019.

By Tanu Henry

(CBM) – Diane Shelton was proud of her professional life. For more than 25 years, she held steady government jobs with the state Assembly as a legislative consultant, capitol office director, legislative director and chief of staff for seven different Assembly members, starting in 1984.

When she got her first job with the Assembly, there were only 7 Blacks out of 120 members of the state legislature, and just a handful of African-American staffers.

During that time, Shelton – who is African-American and lives just south of Sacramento in Elk Grove – said she earned more than $30,000 less than her White counterparts.

Then in 2011, Shelton, who is now 62, became a trainer with the Capitol Institute, the lower house’s professional development unit. That office operates under the supervision of the Assembly Rules committee.

In that new role, Shelton earned a salary of about $67,000. At the same time, the Assembly paid a White male counterpart almost 40 percent more money than she made: around $105,000. He had the same job title, comparable experience and performed similar duties.

“I loved my job as a trainer,” says Shelton. “I enjoyed using my skills to create original training for an increasing number of new staff. However, after seven stressful years of pursuing more equitable pay and watching decision makers devalue my work, I reluctantly retired.”

Shelton says when she asked her supervisor for pay on par with her peers, he responded with only a 7.5 percent increase. After exhausting administrative options to get an annual salary equal to her White male counterpart, in 2017, Shelton decided to sue the State Assembly. She cited racial discrimination, unlawful retaliation and violation of the California Fair Pay Act, among other claims.

She is not alone.

Even though California has the slimmest gender pay gap in the United States, on average, women still earn about 89 percent of the total money men are paid in the state, according to the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG).

That’s about $.89 for every dollar men earn, which adds up to a loss of nearly $78.6 billion every year for women in the state.

For Black women, the pay gap is wider and has a more deep-reaching impact on African-American families across California. Black women – 80 percent of whom are the sole or primary breadwinners in their households – earn only about $.61 for every dollar a White, non-Hispanic man makes.

California has the strongest equal pay laws in the country. Yet, women with masters degrees working full time make only $.72 for every dollar men with masters degrees earn.

“It’s humiliating, its unjust and just plain wrong,” said first partner of California, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, speaking at an event on Black Women Equal Pay Day (August 22) in Sacramento. Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, other lawmakers and guests joined the governor’s life partner to bring attention to the issue.

In April, Siebel Newsom announced that her office was partnering with the CCSWG, California Labor Agency Secretary Julie Su and TIME’S UP, an organization focused on fair, safe and dignified work for women. Together, the coalition launched a statewide initiative called #EqualPayCA.

“We all win when women win,” Siebel Newsom said. “Women are the backbone of our families.”

In 2015, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the California Fair Pay Act. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) sponsored the bill she wrote to give teeth to the state’s existing labor law, the California Equal Pay Act, which was passed in 1949, first affording equal pay to women in the workplace.

Besides requiring equal pay for men and women in “substantially similar jobs,” the new ammendment included race and ethnicity, too; outlawed retaliation against employees who complain about unfair pay; and allowed for equal pay salary claims for the same kind of job – even when located in different places.

Since then, California’s equal pay law has inspired similar legislation in 41other states and Jackson is putting forth a new bill that will require organizations with 100 employees or more to make annual salary reports to the state broken down by gender, race and ethnicity.

In California, where there remains a gaping wealth disparity between Blacks and other racial groups, any equal pay effort that takes into account gender and race takes on much greater significance. In 2014, in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the median household net worth of US-born Whites was $355,000 compared to just $4,000 for US-born blacks, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.

Last week, Gov Newsom signed AB 467, also known as the “Equal Pay for Equal Play” bill, into law. The measure, introduced by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Oceanside) requires sports teams to pay women equal to men in all sporting competitions held on state land in California.

Since launching her equal pay campaign, Seibel Newsom says 27 California companies have taken the equal pay pledge, including Gap, Intel and Cisco. And even though the state has a strong equal pay law on the books, more work needs to be done.

“Its about education, implementation and enforcement,” she says. “I applaud these businesses for stepping up and doing their part to ensure pay equity within their companies, and I encourage all other businesses in California to follow suit. Together, we can close the pay gap and create a more equitable California for all.”

This article originally appeared in the Sacramento Observer.

Sacramento Observer staff report

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Recently Approved Budget Plan Favors Wealthy, Slashes Aid to Low-Income Americans

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts

Published

6 days ago

March 21, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown

BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

The new budget framework approved by Congress may result in sweeping changes to the federal safety net and tax code. The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts. A new analysis from Yale University’s Budget Lab shows the proposals in the House’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution would lead to a drop in after-tax-and-transfer income for the poorest households while significantly boosting revenue for the wealthiest Americans. Last month, Congress passed its Concurrent Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2025 (H. Con. Res. 14), setting revenue and spending targets for the next decade. The resolution outlines $1.5 trillion in gross spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax reductions between FY2025 and FY2034, along with $500 billion in unspecified deficit reduction.

Congressional Committees have now been instructed to identify policy changes that align with these goals. Three of the most impactful committees—Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means—have been tasked with proposing major changes. The Agriculture Committee is charged with finding $230 billion in savings, likely through changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Energy and Commerce must deliver $880 billion in savings, likely through Medicaid reductions. Meanwhile, the Ways and Means Committee must craft tax changes totaling no more than $4.5 trillion in new deficits, most likely through extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the resolution does not specify precise changes, reports suggest lawmakers are eyeing steep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid benefits while seeking to make permanent tax provisions that primarily benefit high-income individuals and corporations.

To examine the potential real-world impact, Yale’s Budget Lab modeled four policy changes that align with the resolution’s goals:

A 30 percent across-the-board cut in SNAP funding.
A 15 percent cut in Medicaid funding.
Permanent extension of the individual and estate tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Permanent extension of business tax provisions including 100% bonus depreciation, expense of R&D, and relaxed limits on interest deductions.

Yale researchers determined that the combined effect of these policies would reduce the after-tax-and-transfer income of the bottom 20 percent of earners by 5 percent in the calendar year 2026. Households in the middle would see a modest 0.6 percent gain. However, the top five percent of earners would experience a 3 percent increase in their after-tax-and-transfer income.

Moreover, the analysis concluded that more than 100 percent of the net fiscal benefit from these changes would go to households in the top 20 percent of the income distribution. This happens because lower-income groups would lose more in government benefits than they would gain from any tax cuts. At the same time, high-income households would enjoy significant tax reductions with little or no loss in benefits.

“These results indicate a shift in resources away from low-income tax units toward those with higher incomes,” the Budget Lab report states. “In particular, making the TCJA provisions permanent for high earners while reducing spending on SNAP and Medicaid leads to a regressive overall effect.” The report notes that policymakers have floated a range of options to reduce SNAP and Medicaid outlays, such as lowering per-beneficiary benefits or tightening eligibility rules. While the Budget Lab did not assess each proposal individually, the modeling assumes legislation consistent with the resolution’s instructions. “The burden of deficit reduction would fall largely on those least able to bear it,” the report concluded.

Stacy M. Brown

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A Threat to Pre-emptive Pardons

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process.

Published

6 days ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

President Trump is working to undo the traditional presidential pardon powers by questioning the Biden administration’s pre-emptive pardons issued just days before January 20, 2025. President Trump is seeking retribution against the January 6th House Select Committee. The Trump Justice Department has been tasked to find loopholes to overturn the pardons that could lead to legal battles for the Republican and Democratic nine-member committee. Legal scholars and those closely familiar with the pardon process worked with the Biden administration to ensure the preemptive pardons would stand against any retaliatory knocks from the incoming Trump administration. A source close to the Biden administration’s pardons said, in January 2025, “I think pardons are all valid. The power is unreviewable by the courts.”

However, today that same source had a different statement on the nuances of the new Trump pardon attack. That attack places questions about Biden’s use of an autopen for the pardons. The Trump argument is that Biden did not know who was pardoned as he did not sign the documents. Instead, the pardons were allegedly signed by an autopen. The same source close to the pardon issue said this week, “unless he [Trump] can prove Biden didn’t know what was being done in his name. All of this is in uncharted territory. “ Meanwhile, an autopen is used to make automatic or remote signatures. It has been used for decades by public figures and celebrities.

Months before the Biden pardon announcement, those in the Biden White House Counsel’s Office, staff, and the Justice Department were conferring tirelessly around the clock on who to pardon and how. The concern for the preemptive pardons was how to make them irrevocable in an unprecedented process. At one point in the lead-up to the preemptive pardon releases, it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process. President Trump began the threat of an investigation for the January 6th Select Committee during the Hill proceedings. Trump has threatened members with investigation or jail.

Oakland Post

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Reaction to The Education EO

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking a higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college.

Published

6 days ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

There are plenty of negative reactions to President Donald Trump’s latest Executive Order abolishing the Department of Education. As Democrats call yesterday’s action performative, it would take an act of Congress for the Education Department to close permanently. “This blatantly unconstitutional executive order is just another piece of evidence that Trump has absolutely no respect for the Constitution,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who is the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee. “By dismantling ED, President Trump is implementing his own philosophy on education, which can be summed up in his own words, ‘I love the poorly educated.’ I am adamantly opposed to this reckless action, said Rep. Bobby Scott who is the most senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Morgan State University President Dr. David Wilson chimed in saying “I’m deeply concerned about efforts to shift federal oversight in education back to the states, particularly regarding equity, justice, and fairness. History has shown us what happens when states are left unchecked—Black and poor children are too often denied access to the high-quality education they deserve. In 1979 then President Jimmy Carter signed a law creating the Department of Education. Arne Duncan, former Obama Education Secretary, reminds us that both Democratic and Republican presidents have kept education a non-political issue until now. However, Duncan stressed Republican presidents have contributed greatly to moving education forward in this country.

During a CNN interview this week Duncan said during the Civil War President Abraham “Lincoln created the land grant system” for colleges like Tennessee State University. “President Ford brought in IDEA.” And “Nixon signed Pell Grants into law.” In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush which increased federal oversight of schools through standardized testing. Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college. Wilson details, “that 40 percent of all college students rely on Pell Grants and student loans.”

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) says this Trump action “impacts students pursuing higher education and threatens 26 million students across the country, taking billions away from their educational futures. Meanwhile, During the president’s speech in the East Room of the White House Thursday, Trump criticized Baltimore City, and its math test scores with critical words. Governor West Moore, who is opposed to the EO action, said about dismantling the Department of Education, “Leadership means lifting people up, not punching them down.”