State Rep. Anne Pasley-Stuart was shocked in November to read an Idaho Statesman story reporting that Idaho women earned 60 cents for every dollar men received across all industries.

"I thought that just can't be," said the Democrat from District 19 in Boise's North End. "But I did a great deal of research. I was horrified to find it was true."

The story reported a U.S. Census Bureau finding that the average disparity between working men and women in Idaho had narrowed only 5 percent since 1992.

So in this year's legislative session, Pasley-Stuart and Rep. Donna Boe, D-Pocatello, and Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, sponsored House Concurrent Resolution 23, which says the Legislature recognizes the problem and declares that equal pay will help Idaho families. The resolution also established Equal Pay Day this Tuesday, April 28.

That date represents how far into 2009 an average Idaho woman must work to catch up with what the average Idaho man earned in 2008 if both began working Jan. 1, 2008. Several events are scheduled in Boise that day.

The House and Senate unanimously passed the resolution in March and April, just at they pulled the plug on funding for the Idaho Women's Commission, which was founded in 1965 to push for equal pay for women, employment opportunities, and child custody and support. Lawmakers said the commission was no longer needed because its activities duplicated those of another state agency and a private nonprofit organization.

Rep. Robert Schaefer, R-Nampa, said he knows several women who have made less than their male counterparts at work, though they were equally qualified.

"It's improper for anyone who's running a business to treat a gal different," Schaefer said. "We need to come into the 21st century, for crying out loud."

Experts say women's wages trail men's for a variety of reasons.

"There's a built-in bias and some lack of management and promotion opportunity, combined with socialization that doesn't promote assertiveness," said Donna Wade, executive director of the Idaho Women's Network.

Wade said women generally aren't taught or encouraged to negotiate for better salaries and benefits as men are. Also, women who start their working lives making less usually remain on a lower-paying path throughout their careers.

Idaho is among the four worst states in disparity between women's and men's wages, according to the Census Bureau report. The others are Utah, Wyoming and Louisiana.

Families nationwide are losing about $200 billion each year because of the gap, the resolution said. And women approaching retirement age are more likely to enter poverty because they don't make enough to save for retirement, maximize pension and Social Security benefits, or sustain themselves during their longer life spans.

Closing the gap would significantly cut the poverty rate for women up to 50 percent, the resolution said.

"The next step will be to come back next year with legislation in hand," said Pasley-Stuart, who has been working on women's issues for 30 years as a human resources professional. "We may see some changes. I certainly hope so."

Sandra Forester: 377-6464