U.S. Senator Tina Smith has cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help close the long-existing income gap between women and men.
Sen. Smith said that equal pay for equal work shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and closing the pay gap would help support women in the workplace, helping ensure that women would be paid an equal wage for doing the same job. She called on Congress to take up and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act in order to strengthen protections for women in the workplace and help end wage discrimination.
“Equal pay for equal work is good for all Americans,” said Sen. Smith. “We’ve made important progress in Minnesota to close the pay gap, but too many women—especially women of color—in our state and across the nation still don’t get paid for doing the same job. I’m urging my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to come together and support this legislation because we need to ensure all women succeed.”
The Paycheck Fairness Act—introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—would update the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to prohibit employers from retaliating against an employee for discussing their salary with another employee, restrict blanket defenses by employers who argue that pay differences are due to reasons other than sex, and provide other tools to strengthen protections against gender-based pay discrimination
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