REPORTER
Mercer Island www.mi-reporter.com
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10,20, 2016 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2013| |75¢ 75¢
Students connect with seniors for service project
Addressing the gender wage gap
Don’t forget: Giving from Heart Feb. 10 The Island’s annual “Giving from the Heart” event is today, Feb. 10. Attend a fundraising breakfast, purchase glass hearts and shop at selected businesses to support Youth and Family Services. For more, visit www. miyfs.org.
By Reporter Staff
The great backyard bird count is coming Bird watchers from near and far are expected to participate in the 19th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count on Feb. 12-15. Island participants on average see about 25-30 species during the count. For more, visit www. BirdCount.org.
Bonjour: French conversation evening Feb. 23 The Mercer Island Sister City Association will sponsor an informal French Conversation Evening for anyone who wants to improve his/her French at the home of Beth Brennen on Mercer Island. The only “rule” is that you speak French. For more, contact Brennen at 206232-7650 or Monica Howell at 206-232-2983.
Contributed Photo
Rep. Tana Senn advocates for pay equality as the Washington State House of Representatives convenes for floor debate on Feb. 3, the 24th day of the Legislative session.
Equal pay legislation passes state House By Katie Metzger
kmetzger@mi-reporter.com
Rep. Tana Senn’s (D-Mercer Island) bill to address the gender wage gap passed the House on Feb. 3 with bipartisan support and a 56-41 vote. She won the “Legislator of the Week” award last week for her work to ensure equal pay for women. Senn’s bill, the Equal Pay Opportunity Act (HB 1646), would ban employers from retaliating against employees for discussing wages and salaries and prevent the use of pay secrecy policies. It’s not about pay transparency and publicizing wages, but shining a light on the pay gap issue and allowing women to find out if they’re being underpaid, Senn told the Reporter.
Martin Weiss 425.417.9595 www.MartinWeiss.johnlscott.com
martinweiss@johnlscott.com
“America is a nation founded on the ideal that all of us are created equal,” she said. “There are various reasons why women are paid differently than men (because they don’t negotiate or choose lowerpaying fields), but even if you eliminate those, there’s an inexplicable difference in pay.” Her bill is an amendment of an existing equal pay law that was passed in 1943. The state’s equal pay law has not had major updates since it was passed. On average, a working woman in Washington earns just 77 percent of her male counterpart, even when their seniority, experience and education are comparable. This income disparity is dramatically worse for women of color, who could make as low as 46 cents on the dollar.
“Whether it’s conscious bias or unconscious bias, it is there,” she told the Reporter. “If you want to have equal pay and you don’t even know that you’re being paid unfairly, then how can you attack the problem?” This discrepancy has a cumulative impact that affects women and families of all ages, Senn said. Older women who have been underpaid their whole lives end up with less in their savings, Social Security, 401ks and pensions. They are twice as likely to live in poverty than senior men, Senn said. “It affects everyone from my 10-year-old, who is well aware of the wage gap … all the way up to senior women,” she said. More than 20 states already have laws preventing pay secrecy policies, and President Barack Obama has also taken steps to try and close the wage gap. California and Oregon passed similar laws in 2015, allowing employees to have
SENIORS | PAGE 7
EQUAL | PAGE 3
Betty DeLaurenti 206.949.1222 www.bettyd.johnlscott.com
bettyd@johnlscott.com
REPORTER
Mercer Island Visual Arts League is currently featuring the “Tell-Tale Heart” exhibit, featuring unique gifts, paintings, cards, scarves, jewelry and more. The gallery is located at 2836 78th Ave. SE.
Mercer Island
‘Tell-Tale Heart’ now open at MIVAL
STARTING AT $39/YEAR
Enjoy the artwork of Mercer Island students from 6:30-7:30 p.m. tonight at Mercer Island High School.
Subscribe online at www.Mi-Reporter.com or please call 1-888-838-3000
Reflections event Feb. 10
Four students from Medina Elementary School bridged a generational divide and made life a little cozier for some furry feline friends at the Seattle Humane Society. On the Martin Luther King, Jr. school holiday, fifth grade students Mei Lan Uyeno, Oviya Krishnan, Shreya Vommi and Serena Cai visited Covenant Shores on Mercer Island with nearly 200 fleece templates in tow to create blankets for kittens living at the Seattle Humane Society. Working with a handful of residents, they organized, tied and double knotted 120 blankets, which were made using donated fleece material and repurposed fleece blankets. The students call the service project “Share Some Happiness.” It’s part of the Destination Imagination after-school club, a
SUBSCRIPTIONS
MI | THIS WEEK
Serving Since1947 1947 Servingthe theMercer MercerIsland Island Community community since