Members of the Montgomery County Council just introduced a bill that will help close the gender pay gap. Studies show women make $30,000 less than men in the county.

“I wasn’t even aware that it was a problem here in Montgomery County,” said Leonette Brown Dixon, county government employee.

Dixon says it was shocking to hear women make an average of 80 cents to every dollar compared to men.

‘The longest-serving female in that cohort still makes 30,000 less than that man does,” said Evan Glass – Montgomery County councilmember at-large.

Councilmember Glass is sponsoring the Montgomery County Pay Equity Act to help bridge the gap. Glass says the numbers are even worse for Black women as they earn 69 cents to every dollar and Hispanic women earn 47 cents.

“I know that prejudice can take a lot of different forms but prejudice or pay discrimination does not have to be part of the workforce,” said Dixon.

The bill would make changes, forbidding the county from relying on pay history to determine ones salary.

“It’s really time for us to just move on, it’s time for women to have equal participation in all of the benefits to society,” said Nicole Y. Drew, president of Montgomery County Commission for Women.

Glass hopes this act will bring fair hiring and salary for all new employees in the county.

“Who would have thought in 2019 in progressive Montgomery County we would be dealing with this issue of pay equity, but here we are and it’s important that we have this conversation to shed some light on it so that we could correct it immediately,” said Glass.

The bill will take effect 90 days from now and only new hires will fall under the new guidelines.