Issue Position: Equal Pay

Issue Position

As your state representative:

1. I will make sure that equal pay for equal work is a reality, not just the law. Equal pay applies to women athletes as well. I will examine the loopholes in existing law that allow women to be paid less than men, and plug those loopholes. I support legislation introduced this session by Democrats to require equal pay for equal work in all state contracts.

2. I will support higher penalties for employers who discriminate against women or anyone on pay and making it easier for a woman to bring a complaint if she feels she has been discriminated against on pay.

3. I will make sure that all women have access to higher paying jobs and careers and that institutional barriers that keep women from higher paying careers--such as a lack of educational opportunity or child care--be torn down.

Detailed position

On average, women across America earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns when doing the same job. Discrimination persists even though John F. Kennedy signed equal pay legislation in 1963. Older women on Social Security often receive smaller payments each month than men because their lifetime earnings are substantially less. Underpaying women by 22 percent drags the economy down -- the national economy and Colorado's. Funneling that spending power back into the local economy creates local jobs and betters the lives of Colorado families.

Colorado must move beyond federal legislation to educate employers that paycheck discrimination is unlawful. The state must assist businesses toward compliance.

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