# Women's Economic Security Act _Minnesota's 2014 omnibus act on women's pay, leave, workplace protections and economic opportunity — its four articles, its equal pay certificate for state contractors, its authors, votes and signing, and what has changed since_ | Women's Economic Security Act | | |---|---| | Citation | Laws 2014, ch. 239 (H.F. 2536; Senate companion S.F. 2050) | | Signed | May 11, 2014, 11:34 a.m., Governor Mark Dayton (DFL) | | Chief authors | Rep. Carly Melin (35 House authors); Sen. Sandra Pappas | | Votes | House 106–24 (April 9) and 104–24 (May 7); Senate 51–14 (April 23) and 43–24 (May 8, 2014) | | Articles | 1, citation; 2, economic security; 3, labor standards and wages; 4, employment protections | | Best-known provision | the equal pay certificate for state contracts over $500,000, Minn. Stat. § 363A.44 | | Legislature | DFL majorities in both houses (2013–2014) | | Parent articles | [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] · [[DFL Feminists]] · [[GOP Feminists]] · [[How Minnesota Got Here]] | The **Women's Economic Security Act** (WESA) is a 2014 Minnesota law whose first article provides that "This act shall be known as the Women's Economic Security Act."[^1] It requires businesses of 40 or more employees seeking state contracts over $500,000 to hold an equal pay certificate, lengthened unpaid parental leave from six to twelve weeks,[^2] required pregnancy accommodations, protected employees who discuss their wages, barred discrimination on the basis of familial status, and funded programs for women in nontraditional jobs and for women-owned businesses; it also brought back the [[Office on the Economic Status of Women]].[^3][^4][^5] The act's equal pay certificate is instrument 20 of the ledger in [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]]. Its DFL authors are treated in [[DFL Feminists]], and the Republican votes and conferees in [[GOP Feminists]]. The parent account of the women's-economic instruments is [[How Minnesota Got Here]].[^6] ## Provisions **Article 2, economic security.** The House Research summary describes the article's equal pay certificate: a state agency, the Metropolitan Council and other metropolitan agencies may not execute a contract over $500,000 with a business of 40 or more full-time employees unless it holds a certificate or is exempt; the act "Provides a $150 fee for an equal pay certificate of compliance"; the commissioner must act on an application within 15 days; and certificates may be audited, suspended or revoked.[^3] The article also created a grant program for women in high-wage, high-demand nontraditional jobs, added sexual assault and stalking to the reasons an employee may quit without losing unemployment benefits, appropriated $500,000 for grants to women-owned businesses through WomenVenture and the Women's Business Center of Northeastern Minnesota, and ordered a report on a state-administered retirement savings plan.[^3] **The certificate's test.** Under § 363A.44 a business must certify, among other things, "that the average compensation for its female employees is not consistently below the average compensation for its male employees" within each major EEO-1 job category in which contract work is expected, taking into account factors such as length of service and job requirements; "A certificate is valid for four years."[^7] The Department of Human Rights administers it.[^8] **Article 3, labor standards and wages.** The article "Provides for 12 weeks of leave for pregnancy and parenting", expands sick leave to the care of a mother-in-law, father-in-law or grandchild and to circumstances of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking, and requires reasonable accommodations "for health conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth".[^3] **Article 4, employment protections.** The article prohibits employers from requiring nondisclosure of wages or retaliating against employees who disclose them, strengthens the nursing-mothers provision, and adds familial status to the Human Rights Act's employment protections.[^3][^4] **What the act does by sex.** The act's name, its nontraditional-jobs grants, its women-owned business grants and the certificate's female-to-male pay comparison are written for women; its leave, sick-leave, wage-disclosure and familial-status provisions apply to employees of either sex.[^3][^7] The Legislative Reference Library describes the leave and accommodation provisions as covering "women—and men—who are parents".[^4] ## Enactment **Authors.** H.F. 2536 had thirty-five House authors led by Representative Carly Melin, including Representative Michael Paymar; the Senate author was Sandra Pappas.[^9] A labor newspaper described the sponsors as "Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, and Senator Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul."[^10] The Legislature was DFL in both houses; Republicans held 61 of 134 House seats and 28 of 67 Senate seats when the 2014 session convened.[^11][^12] **First passage.** The House passed the bill on April 9, 2014 with "106 yeas and 24 nays"; the Senate passed it 51–14 on April 23.[^13][^9] MPR News reported of the Senate vote that "All of the no votes came from Republicans".[^14] With 39 DFL senators, the 51 yeas included at least twelve Republicans.[^12] In the House, a cross-reference of the journal's names against the Legislative Reference Library's member records, done for this series, puts 36 Republicans among the yeas and all 24 nays among Republicans.[^13][^15] **Conference.** The House named Melin, Rena Moran and the Republican Ron Kresha as conferees; the Senate named Pappas, Katie Sieben and the Republican Julie Rosen.[^9][^16][^17] On May 7 a motion to return the bill to conference failed 59–70; the House adopted the conference report 80–48 and repassed the bill "104 yeas and 24 nays".[^9][^18] The Senate repassed it 43–24 on May 8, after a motion to reject the conference report failed 33–34.[^9] **Signing.** The act was presented to the governor on May 9 and "Signed by the governor May 11, 2014, 11:34 a.m." — Mother's Day.[^1][^19] The governor's office said it had passed "with broad bipartisan support."[^2] ## Later changes Section 363A.44 was amended again in 2014 (chapter 312) and in 2020 and 2021.[^7] The Department of Labor and Industry's tenth-anniversary summary records later laws building on WESA, including a 2016 change that "Prioritizes funding for the Women and High-Wage High-Demand Nontraditional Jobs Grant for programs that assist and encourage women of color", a 2023 ban on asking applicants about past pay, earned sick and safe time, and a statewide paid leave insurance program effective January 1, 2026.[^20] The office the act revived was closed again in 2017 and re-established in 2023.[^5] ## Record and readings **Reading one.** On the At Issue spine's first reading, WESA is a sex-keyed package: it conditions state contracts on a comparison of women's and men's pay, directs grants to women and women-owned businesses by sex of owner, revived the Office on the Economic Status of Women, and first passed both houses on votes in which, by MPR News's account of the Senate and this series' cross-reference of the House journal against the Library's member records, every no came from Republicans.[^7][^3][^5][^14][^13][^15] **Reading two.** On the second reading, most of the act is sex-neutral workplace law — parental and sick leave, wage-disclosure protection, familial-status protection — and its certificate rests on a signed compliance statement, including an average-pay assertion, with audits at the commissioner's discretion; it drew Republican votes in both houses on first passage, at least twelve of them in the Senate.[^3][^4][^7][^13][^12] Neither reading is supported by a claim that the act passed without Republican votes or that its certificate applies to all state contracts.[^9][^7] ## Open items 1. **The Senate Journal.** The party breakdown of the Senate's May 8 vote was not checked against the Senate Journal, which this series could not retrieve.[^15] 2. **Certificates issued.** The number of equal pay certificates issued, denied or revoked was not found.[^8] 3. **The 2014 office revival.** The section of chapter 239 that restored the office was not identified in the text read.[^5][^1] ## See also - [[Office on the Economic Status of Women]] · [[Council on the Economic Status of Women]] · [[State Government Pay Equity Act]] · [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]] - [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] · [[DFL Feminists]] · [[GOP Feminists]] · [[How Minnesota Got Here]] - [[Mark Dayton]] · [[Sandy Pappas]] · [[Carly Melin]] ## Notes [^1]: Laws of Minnesota 2014, ch. 239 (H.F. 2536), the Women's Economic Security Act — art. 1, citation; art. 2, economic security, including § 363A.44; art. 3, labor standards and wages; art. 4, employment protections; presented May 9, signed May 11, 2014, 11:34 a.m. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2014/0/239/ [^2]: Office of Governor Mark Dayton, "Fact Sheet: Women's Economic Security Act" (May 11, 2014; archived by the Legislative Reference Library) — WESA's provisions as described by the governor's office; "broad bipartisan support." https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2018/other/181224/governor/images/2014_05_11_wesa_fact_sheet.pdf [^3]: Minnesota House Research Department, act summary, Laws 2014, ch. 239 (H.F. 2536) — equal pay certificate for contracts over $500,000 with businesses of 40 or more employees; 12 weeks of pregnancy and parenting leave; wage-disclosure protection. https://www.house.mn.gov/hrd/as/88/as239.pdf [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Women's Legislative Timeline, "2014 – Women's Economic Security Act" (Laws 2014, ch. 239) — leave, accommodation and anti-discrimination provisions; equal-pay certification for certain state contractors; wage-disclosure protection; retirement study. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/womenstimeline/details.aspx?recid=160 [^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]: 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 [^8]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, "Equal Pay Certificate" — requirements for businesses with 40 or more full-time employees in Minnesota seeking state contracts over $500,000; four-year validity; Minn. Stat. § 363A.44. https://mn.gov/mdhr/certificates/equalpay/ [^9]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, bill status, H.F. 2536 (88th Legislature, 2014), Women's Economic Security Act — 35 House authors led by Melin (including Paymar); conferees; votes 106–24, 51–14, 104–24 and 43–24; approved May 11, 2014; chapter 239. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/88/2014/0/HF/2536 [^10]: Barb Kucera, "Governor Dayton signs Women's Economic Security Act," Workday Magazine (May 12, 2014) — Dayton's signing on Mother's Day; the act's sponsors, Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, and Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul; its provisions. https://workdaymagazine.org/governor-dayton-signs-womens-economic-security-act/ [^11]: 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 [^12]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Legislative Time Capsule, 88th Legislature (2013–2014) — House 61 Republican and 73 DFL and Senate 28 Republican and 39 DFL at the 2014 session; House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (Republican). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/timecapsule/session.aspx?sess=88 [^13]: Journal of the House, 2014, 86th Day (Apr. 9, 2014), p. 9732 — passage of H.F. 2536: "There were 106 yeas and 24 nays," with the roll call. Minnesota House of Representatives. https://www.house.mn.gov/cco/journals/2013-14/J0409086.htm [^14]: MPR News, "State Senate passes employment protection measure for women" (Apr. 23, 2014) — Senate passage of the Women's Economic Security Act; "All of the no votes came from Republicans." https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/04/23/state-senate-passes-employment-protection-measure-for-women [^15]: This project's research file for the GOP Feminists article (Oct. 28, 2026): party labels for each member named in the 1982, 1984 and 2014 roll calls, taken from the per-session party field of the Legislative Reference Library's member records and checked against its seat totals; it also lists sources that could not be retrieved, including the 2014 Senate journals and a 2008 Minnesota History article. [^16]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Legislators Past & Present, record of Ron Kresha — House 2013–2022 (District 09B) and from 2023 (District 10A), first elected as a Republican; Little Falls; a House conferee on the 2014 Women's Economic Security Act, per the bill-status record. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=15404 [^17]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Legislators Past & Present, record of Julie A. Rosen — Senate 2003–2012 (District 24) and 2013–2022 (District 23), first elected as a Republican; Fairmont; a Senate conferee on the 2014 Women's Economic Security Act, per the bill-status record. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10803 [^18]: Journal of the House, 2014, 99th Day (May 7, 2014), p. 10478 — repassage of H.F. 2536 as amended by conference: "There were 104 yeas and 24 nays." Minnesota House of Representatives. https://www.house.mn.gov/cco/journals/2013-14/J0507099.htm [^19]: Rep. Peter Fischer, legislative update (May 14, 2014) — "the Women's Economic Security Act became law on Mother's Day"; summary of provisions. Minnesota House of Representatives member newsletter. https://www.house.mn.gov/members/profile/news/15396/8640 [^20]: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, *Women's Economic Security Act* tenth-anniversary fact sheet (2024) — WESA's provisions with later changes, including the 2023 salary-history ban, earned sick and safe time and the paid leave program effective Jan. 1, 2026. https://dli.mn.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/WESA_celebration_fact_sheet_2024.pdf