Last week, we recognized April 14 as Equal Pay Day. An extra three months and 14 days is how long it took the average American woman to catch up to the 2014 annual pay for the average American man.
It's time to fix this.
When women do the same work as men they deserve the same pay.
I am cosponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act to help put this disparity to rest.
Earlier this month, I held a roundtable with local elected officials and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) to discuss money in politics. More than ever, Americans are feeling disenfranchised with elections that are drowned in Super-PAC and big donor money.
One proposal we discussed, The Government By the People Act, addresses this issue by giving more of a voice to small donors who can't afford to keep up with corporate or political action money.
The Government by the People Act improves the opportunity for small donors to influence elections by providing a $25 My Voice Tax Credit for campaign contributions to Congressional candidates. It helps to amplify the voice of individual Americans and allows grassroots candidates relying on smaller donors to compete with big money candidates, Super PACs and outside special interest groups. Americans deserve more transparent, accountable and fair elections.
President Signs Bipartisan, Permanent Fix to Medicare Reimbursement
On Thursday, President Obama signed a bill repairing the reimbursement formula for Medicare doctors with support from both Republicans and Democrats. This new payment structure is based on quality of care, not volume. It is another big step in making our healthcare system more sustainable and providing better care to older Americans.
Lakewood High School Students' Experiment to be Tested on the International Space Station
An experiment designed and built by Lakewood High School students is ready for testing on the International Space Station. The experiment is a way to test a viable option for growing plants in a zero-gravity environment. The class developed a centrifuge to spin the entire plant, thus preventing the water from clinging to root, stopping the plant from getting the necessary amount of oxygen.
The device, called the Hydrofuge, was delivered to the ISS last week. Data from the experiment will be collected over 120 days and reported back to the Lakewood HS students for analysis. Congratulations to all the students and staff who contributed to this great project. I look forward to hearing about the results! Click here to read the Denver Post story.
School Visits to McClain, Northglenn and Mountain Ridge High Schools
Several times a year I take the opportunity to visit local schools in the district. On April 10th, I started the school visits by getting a tour and taking questions from about 100 students at McClain High School and then talked with a small class AP Government class at Mountain Ridge High School. We finished the day talking to the coding club at Northglenn High School that is gearing up to participate in this year's U.S. House of Representatives' STEM Competition. They were the winners in last year's competition and I look forward to seeing what they come up with this year. A big thank you to each school for letting me visit and learn from you for a day.