PRINTER'S NO. 736
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
114
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY KENYATTA, DONATUCCI, HILL-EVANS, T. DAVIS,
WEBSTER, MURT, KINSEY, FREEMAN, NEILSON, KIRKLAND, DALEY,
BULLOCK AND DAWKINS, MARCH 6, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MARCH 6, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Encouraging equitable and diverse gender representation on
corporate boards and urging more corporate leadership
opportunities for women in this Commonwealth by 2021.
WHEREAS, In 2018, California became the first state to
require publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on
their board of directors; and
WHEREAS, Gender diversity is an important element of
corporate performance; and
WHEREAS, A study by Credit Suisse Research shows that
companies with at least 15% of women as senior managers had more
than 50% higher profitability than those with less than 10%; and
WHEREAS, Only 16.6% of directors on corporate boards in the
United States are women, which is behind that of countries such
as Norway, France, Australia and South Africa; and
WHEREAS, The number of women on corporate boards has doubled
since 1997, but there has been relatively little to no growth in
recent years; and
WHEREAS, Between 2013 and 2016, around 40% of women added to
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corporate boards globally were added as an additional member
rather than a replacement, and companies were 35% more likely to
drop a male director to improve diversity than to add a woman;
and
WHEREAS, Multiple studies have shown that at current rates it
will take 40 years to reach gender parity on corporate boards;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage
equitable and diverse gender representation on corporate boards
and urge that by 2021 every publicly held corporation in this
Commonwealth with nine or more director seats have a minimum of
three women on its board, every publicly held corporation with
five to eight director seats have a minimum of two women on its
board and every publicly held corporation with fewer than five
director seats have at least one woman on its board; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives acknowledge that
companies perform better when their boards and executive
leadership teams include women and that this Commonwealth has a
significant stake in both protecting shareholders in publicly
traded companies as well as in developing polices which enable
them to perform better.
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