AMENDED
SUBSTITUTE ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article Vll, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, a key City interest is ensuring economic parity and opportunities unencumbered by discriminatory practices; and
WHEREAS, it is industry standard to ask prospective employees their past salary to help determine the salary amount that will be offered; and
WHEREAS, women in Illinois comprise nearly half of the workforce but earn, on average, seventy-nine cents for each dollar that a white male cams, and women of color earn even less: and
WHEREAS, as Wendy Pollack, Director of the Women's Law and Policy Initiative at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law notes, "employers asking job applicants for their salary history only peipetuates the cycle of wage inequality, which follows women and people of color throughout their careers and into retirement;" and
WHEREAS, in a call for pay equity, House Bill 4163 was introduced in the Illinois State House by Representative Anna Moeller and is pending legislative action; and
WHEREAS, in the fall of 2017 a similar bill passed through the Illinois General Assembly and was ultimately vetoed by Governor Rauner; and
WHEREAS, where the State has been unsuccessful in efforts to remedy the gender wage gap, it is incumbent upon Chicago to undertake measures needed to provide some remedy to its residents: and
WHEREAS, on April 10, 2018, the Mayor Rahm Emanuel reaffirmed his commitment to gender pay equality when he passed an executive order prohibiting the City from asking prospective employees about their pay history: and
WHEREAS, recognizing this momentous step, the City Council of the City of Chicago ...
Click here for full text