June 10, marked the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, an event that no doubt led to the formation of Montana Governor Steve Bullock's executive order for an Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force on June 13.

"We plan on looking to determine if there is inequality in pay for women," said task force co-chair Sheila Hogan. "So equal pay for equal worth is our goal. There's significant data that women in Montana are still earning 67 percent of what men earn. That puts Montana at 39th place for pay equity in the nation."

The task force is not completely fleshed out yet, although the two individuals heading it up are known to be Hogan, and Bureau of Labor and Industry Commissioner Pam Bucy. Hogan says that much of the team will likely be made up of workers from state government departments.

"We have the Department of Commerce and we have research and analysis with the Department of Labor," Hogan said. "So we have the data and so we'll be working with economists at the Department of Labor and, sort of, our 'numbers people' at the Department of Commerce."

Hogan says there is no projected end date for the study yet. She also indicated that the task force would release pertinent data periodically as it is developed.

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