JANUARY 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 17
EQUAL PAY
THE AMERICAN DREAM
By STEVE BELLONE
Suffolk County Executive
For 200 years, this country has
been telling a story of our American
Dream. There are variations of that
story, but the basis of the moral has
always been consistent — that if you
work hard, you can achieve your
dreams.
What makes this aspiration so
powerful is that the creation of our
society works to support this claim:
Hard work — in school, in sports, in
workplace achievement — is often
recognized and rewarded. That professional
reward comes in the form
of a paycheck. A bonus. A raise. A
fair and equitable salary.
The last part, unfortunately, is
often too hard to come by. On a local
level, right here in Suffolk County,
women earn only 78 percent of what
their male counterparts make. In
New York State, women of color fare
more disproportionately than women
of other identities — with black
women earning just 64 percent
of what men earn, and Latina or
Hispanic women earning only 55
percent.
In Suffolk, we are taking steps to
close the pay gap. Beginning in 2019,
we will institute the Restricting Information
on Salaries and Earnings
Act (RISE Act), which I signed last
month.
RISE will reshape pay negotiations
to focus on applicants’ experience,
qualifications and the responsibilities
of the new position, by making
it illegal to inquire about salary
history.
This will be a significant step
toward stopping the perpetuation
of wage inequity for those who have
been historically and systematically
underpaid.
As I’ve often witnessed in the past,
doing the right thing reverberates
beyond the immediate scope of action.
In this case, the economic benefits
reach far beyond those whom this
act targets.
Closing the pay gap in Suffolk will
result in an annual net spending
increase of approximately $664
million, increasing the county’s total
economic output by an estimated
$1.14 billion.
One of the best parts of my job
as a public servant is being able to
help right the wrongs of the past
and continuing to make Suffolk a
better place for all. With the help
of my colleagues in the legislature,
the RISE Act brings us one step
closer.
POINT OF VIEW
"Closing the pay gap in Suffolk will result in an
annual net spending increase of approximnately
$664 million, increasing the county's total
economic output."
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