# Council on the Economic Status of Women _Minnesota's legislative body for the study of women's economic status, created in 1976 as an advisory council, reorganized as a legislative commission in 1983 and as an office of the Legislative Coordinating Commission in 2005 — its charge, membership, leaders, work, closures and revivals_ | Council on the Economic Status of Women | | |---|---| | Created | Laws 1976, ch. 337 (H.F. 1940), approved April 19, 1976, Governor Wendell Anderson (DFL) | | Successors | Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women (Laws 1983, ch. 301; Minn. Stat. § 3.9222, 1983–2005); Office on the Economic Status of Women (Minn. Stat. § 3.303, subd. 7, from 2005) | | Original membership | five representatives, five senators and eight citizens appointed by the governor | | First chair and director | Linda Berglin (chair 1976–1983; Rep., then Sen. from 1981); Nina Rothchild (director, 1976–1983) | | Later directors | Aviva Breen (1983–2001); Diane Cushman (2001–2007); Amy Brenengen (2007–2011); Barbara Battiste (2014–2017); Heather Heyer (2023–) | | Closures | 2011; July 1, 2017 | | Revivals | 2014 (Women's Economic Security Act); 2023 (Laws 2023, ch. 62) | | Parent articles | [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] · [[DFL Feminists]] · [[GOP Feminists]] · [[How Minnesota Got Here]] | The **Council on the Economic Status of Women** was the advisory body the Minnesota Legislature created in 1976 "to study and report on the economic status of women in Minnesota."[^1] Reorganized as a legislative commission in 1983 and as the [[Office on the Economic Status of Women]] in 2005, it is the body whose 1981 task force produced the [[State Government Pay Equity Act]], and it has been closed and revived twice since 2011.[^2][^3][^4][^5] It is instrument 6 of the ledger in [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]]. Its DFL founders and chairs are treated in [[DFL Feminists]]; the 1981 opposition of Governor Quie's appointees, the 2005 repeal under Pawlenty and the 2017 closing under a Republican Legislature in [[GOP Feminists]]. The parent account, [[How Minnesota Got Here]], assigns the council to the Anderson administration and credits it with seeding comparable worth, the Duluth model and sexual-harassment law; that claim is checked below.[^6] ## Origins **Earlier bodies.** The Legislative Reference Library records that Governor Karl Rolvaag established a Council on Women in 1965, of which "little information is available".[^7] The 1967 act creating the Department of Human Rights, under Governor Harold LeVander, provided for "a division on women's affairs to primarily assist women" and a fifteen-member advisory committee on women's affairs.[^8] **The 1975 hearing and the 1976 act.** In August 1975 Representative Stanley Enebo, chair of the House labor-management relations committee, called an interim hearing on women and employment and then introduced a bill for the council, which "was also included as a legislative priority by Governor Wendell Anderson in 1976."[^7] Laws 1976, chapter 337, approved April 19, 1976, created the council of five representatives appointed by the speaker, five senators appointed by the committee on committees "and eight citizens appointed by the governor", at least half of the governor's and the speaker's appointees to be women; the Library's summary gives the citizen members as five.[^1][^7] The act also repealed subdivisions 7 and 8 of § 363.04 — in the 1967 act, the provisions for the human-rights department's women's division and advisory committee — while providing that the repeal did not abolish any positions in the department.[^1][^8] **The charge.** The council was to study "all matters relating to the economic status of women in Minnesota," including credit, family support and inheritance laws, educational and career opportunities, and "laws and business practices constituting barriers to the full participation by women in the economy", and to report to the governor and the Legislature.[^1] The act was to expire on June 30, 1978; the Library reports that the sunset "was successfully removed".[^1][^7] ## Work, 1976–2005 **First hearing and pay equity.** At Berglin's suggestion the council's first public hearing addressed women in state employment; testimony showed state-employed women earning 69 percent of their male counterparts' earnings.[^4] After news of Washington State's comparable-worth litigation, the council established "a Task Force on Pay Equity in 1981", whose work the Library credits with the 1982 State Government Pay Equity Act.[^4][^9] **The 1983 commission.** The Library states that "As a response to gubernatorial appointees who were opposed to the council in 1981," when Al Quie was governor, the council was reformed in 1983 into a commission without gubernatorial appointees.[^7][^10] Laws 1983, chapter 301, approved June 8, 1983, under Perpich, made it a legislative commission of five representatives and five senators; the Library's timeline instead describes eight legislators, four from each body and four from each party.[^2][^11][^7] In its 1999 form, § 3.9222 required the commission to report by December 15 of each even-numbered year and to "recommend legislation and administrative action to enable women to achieve full participation in the economy."[^12] **Legislative program.** The commission's May 1984 newsletter lists among the year's "Commission Legislation which passed" the phase-out of the minimum-wage tip credit, the local pay-equity act, divorce-statistics reporting, child-support guideline changes and the child-care sliding-fee program.[^13] Governor Carlson's 1991 executive order on the State Affirmative Action Council directed the council to work in cooperation with the commission among other bodies.[^14] **Leaders.** Berglin chaired the council from 1976 to 1983, first as a representative and from 1981 as a senator; from 1983 the commission's chair alternated between the houses. By the Library's list the later chairs were Carolyn Rodriguez, Ember Reichgott, Gloria Segal, Pat Piper, Katy Olson, Janet Johnson, Betty McCollum, Becky Lourey and Barb Sykora; Marilyn Lantry served as vice-chair under Rodriguez in 1983–1985, and Sidney Pauly, an Independent-Republican, as vice-chair in 1985–1987. The directors were Rothchild, Aviva Breen and Diane Cushman.[^15][^16] ## The office, 2005–2026 **Repeal and re-creation.** Laws 2005, chapter 156, signed by Governor [[Tim Pawlenty]] on June 3, 2005, repealed § 3.9222, and the 2005 First Special Session placed the duty in the Legislative Coordinating Commission as § 3.303, subd. 7.[^17][^3] That subdivision charges the commission to "study and report to the legislature on all matters relating to the economic status of women in Minnesota" and to "communicate its findings and make recommendations to the legislature on an ongoing basis."[^18] **Closures and revivals.** The office "closed in 2011 during a difficult state budget time" and was brought back in 2014 by the Women's Economic Security Act, which also directs the Commissioner of Human Rights to consult the office on equal-pay reports.[^5][^19] The 2017 special-session state-government bill "eliminated funding for the staff", closing the office on July 1, 2017; the commission's central staff could support an advisory committee.[^5] Mark Dayton was governor and Republicans held both houses in 2011 and 2017.[^20] The UpTake put the office's funding at $120,000 a year and reported Battiste, then its director, as saying that conservative lawmakers had made many efforts since the 1980s to curtail or end it.[^21] Laws 2023, chapter 62, passed by a DFL Legislature and approved by Governor Tim Walz on May 24, 2023, provided "$200,000 each year" for the office, with a base of $400,000 from fiscal year 2026; "The office was re-established by the Legislature in 2023."[^22][^23][^20][^24] ## Record and readings **Reading one.** On the At Issue spine's first reading, the council is the organizing center of the ledger: a standing state body charged by statute with studying and reporting on the economic status of women, whose task force produced the pay-equity acts and whose newsletter tracked a broad legislative program; its revivals in 2014 and 2023 show its durability.[^18][^4][^13][^5] **Reading two.** On the second reading, the council is a body whose statutory charge is to study, report and recommend, and whose history shows repeated contraction — the removal of the governor's appointees, the 2005 repeal of its statute, two closures and a 2017 defunding — under both parties.[^18][^2][^17][^5] Neither reading is supported by a claim that the council seeded the Duluth model or that it operated without interruption from 1976 to 2026.[^25][^5] ## Open items 1. **Membership.** The 1976 act provides eight citizen members and the Library's summary five; the 1983 act provides ten legislators and the summary eight.[^1][^7][^2] 2. **Sexual harassment.** The council's role, if any, in the 1982 act making sexual harassment an unfair discriminatory practice was not checked.[^26] 3. **The 1981 appointees.** The names and positions of the gubernatorial appointees the Library says opposed the council were not found.[^7] ## See also - [[Office on the Economic Status of Women]] · [[State Government Pay Equity Act]] · [[Local Government Pay Equity Act]] · [[Women's Economic Security Act]] - [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] · [[DFL Feminists]] · [[GOP Feminists]] · [[How Minnesota Got Here]] - [[Wendell R. Anderson]] · [[Rudy Perpich]] · [[Al Quie]] · [[Tim Pawlenty]] ## Notes [^1]: Laws of Minnesota 1976, ch. 337 (H.F. 1940), approved April 19, 1976 — an advisory council "to study and report on the economic status of women in Minnesota": five House members, five senators and eight citizens appointed by the governor; expiration June 30, 1978. https://revisor.mn.gov/laws/1976/0/337 [^2]: Laws of Minnesota 1983, ch. 301 (H.F. 1290), approved June 8, 1983, sec. 60 — amending § 3.9222 to replace the advisory council with a legislative commission of five representatives and five senators; the commission's study duties. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1983/0/301/ [^3]: Laws of Minnesota 2005, 1st Spec. Sess., ch. 1 (S.F. 69), state government appropriations — art. 4, sec. 1, creating § 3.303, subd. 7 (economic status of women); art. 4, sec. 113, restoring three-year local pay-equity reporting. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2005/1/1/ [^4]: Legislative Office on the Economic Status of Women, *Pay Equity: The Minnesota Experience*, 6th ed. (Dec. 2015; posted Feb. 2016) — the 1981 task force; the 1982 act's chief authors Berglin and Simoneau; bipartisan support; the 1984 local act, penalties and the 2003 reporting moratorium. https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/pay-equity/Pay_Equity-The%20Minnesota%20Experience.pdf [^5]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, State Agencies, "Office on the Economic Status of Women" — created 2005; closed 2011; restored by WESA in 2014; closed July 1, 2017 when 1Sp2017 S.F. 1 eliminated staff funding; re-established 2023; directors. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/agencies/agencies_detail.aspx?AgencyID=1913 [^6]: Minnesota record, *How Minnesota Got Here — Minnesota's Administrative Discrimination Regime* (merged master, footnoted; compiled June 12, refreshed June 19, 2026), §4.7 — the four instruments (Duluth Model, comparable worth, the women's-economic-status organ, § 43A.191) and their construction schedule 1976–1985. [^7]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Women's Legislative Timeline, "1976 – Establishing the Council on the Economic Status of Women" — Enebo's 1975 hearing and bill; Anderson's priority; membership; the 1983 reform after 1981 gubernatorial appointees opposed the council; Rolvaag's 1965 council. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/womenstimeline/details.aspx?recid=24 [^8]: Laws of Minnesota 1967, ch. 897 (H.F. 1545), approved May 25, 1967 (scan) — "An act creating a department of human rights as the successor of the state commission against discrimination"; subd. 7, a division on women's affairs; an advisory committee on women's affairs. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/data/revisor/law/1967/0/1967-897.pdf [^9]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Women's Legislative Timeline, "1982 – State Government Pay Equity Act" — enacted "as a result of the task force efforts by the Council"; authors of both sexes with bipartisan House support; the 1984 local act. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/womenstimeline/details.aspx?recid=37 [^10]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Minnesota Governors" — list with dates of office and party: Perpich (DFL) from 12/29/1976; Quie (Independent-Republican) from 1/4/1979; Perpich from 1/3/1983; Carlson (Independent-Republican) from 1/7/1991; Ventura (Reform) from 1/4/1999; Pawlenty from 1/6/2003; Dayton from 1/3/2011; Walz (DFL) from 1/7/2019. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/lrl/mngov/gov.aspx [^11]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, State Agencies, "Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women" (1983–2005) — authority Minn. Stat. § 3.9222 and 1983 c 301 s 60; repealed 2005 c 156; membership 5 senators and 5 representatives; directors Breen and Cushman. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/agencies/detail?AgencyID=942 [^12]: Minn. Stat. § 3.9222 (1999 edition), Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women — creation; five representatives and five senators; study duties; biennial reports to the governor and Legislature recommending legislation and administrative action. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/1999/cite/3.9222 [^13]: Commission on the Economic Status of Women, Newsletter #79 (May 1984; OCR), legislative summary — commission legislation enacted in 1984, including the tip-credit phase-out, the local government pay-equity act (ch. 651), divorce statistics and child-care sliding fee. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2014/other/140947.pdf [^14]: Executive Order 91-14, "Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council," signed by Governor Carlson May 3, 1991 (LRL archive scan) — council purpose, "assuring equal access to protected groups under M.S. 43A.19 and M.S. 473.143," and cooperating councils. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/91-14.pdf [^15]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Leadership History" of the Council, Commission and Office on the Economic Status of Women — chairs and vice-chairs by term (Berglin 1976–1983; later chairs of both parties) and directors (Rothchild 1976–1983; Breen; Cushman; Brenengen). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/webcontent/lrl/womenstimeline/leadershipOESW.pdf [^16]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Legislators Past & Present, record of Sidney J. Pauly — House 1983–92 (District 42A) and 1993–94 (42B); party when first elected, Independent Republican; Hennepin County. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=10509 [^17]: Laws of Minnesota 2005, ch. 156 (H.F. 1481), signed June 3, 2005 — state government operations; repealer including Minn. Stat. § 3.9222, the Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2005/0/156/ [^18]: Minn. Stat. § 3.303 (2025), Legislative Coordinating Commission — subd. 7, "Economic status of women": study and report on all matters relating to the economic status of women; subdivision added 1Sp2005 c 1 art 4 s 1. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/3.303 [^19]: Minn. Stat. § 363A.44 (2025), equal pay certificate — required for state contracts over $500,000 with businesses of 40 or more full-time employees; history 2014 c 239 art 2 s 6 and later amendments. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.44 [^20]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Party Control of the Minnesota Legislature and Governor's Office" — party control of the House, Senate and governorship by session, including 1981–82, 1983–84, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2023–24 and 2025–26. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/histleg/caucus_table [^21]: The UpTake, "Politics Behind Silencing Voice For Women At MN Capitol" (June 2017) — director Barbara Battiste on the vote to eliminate the office's funding; $120,000 a year; past efforts "by conservative lawmakers since the 1980s." https://theuptake.org/politics-behind-silencing-voice-for-women-at-mn-capitol [^22]: Laws of Minnesota 2023, ch. 62 (H.F. 1830), art. 1, sec. 2, subd. 4 — Legislative Coordinating Commission appropriation: "$200,000 each year is for the Office on the Economic Status of Women," base $400,000 from fiscal 2026. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/62/ [^23]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, bill status, H.F. 1830 (93rd Legislature, 2023), state government finance — authors Klevorn and Hussein; Senate author Murphy; House repassage 69–62 and Senate 34–31 on May 19, 2023; approved May 24, 2023; chapter 62. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/93/2023/0/HF/1830 [^24]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, State Agencies, "Office on the Economic Status of Women" (detail page) — created 2005; closed 2011; brought back in 2014 by WESA; closed July 1, 2017; "The office was re-established by the Legislature in 2023"; directors. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/agencies/detail?AgencyID=1913 [^25]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, "History and Recognition" (2017) — incorporation in 1980 as Minnesota Program Development, Inc.; site chosen at the Duluth shelter's request; year-by-year timeline 1981–2003 of arrest policies, session lengths, the wheel, the National Training Project and the curricula. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DAIP-History-and-Recognition-2017.pdf [^26]: Laws of Minnesota 1982, ch. 619 (H.F. 1831), approved March 23, 1982 (scan) — "An act relating to human rights," including sexual harassment as an unfair discriminatory practice and protecting workers who quit because of it from benefit disqualification. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/data/revisor/law/1982/0/1982-619.pdf