House Reintroduces Paycheck Fairness Act With Rep. Cleaver As Original Cosponsor

Press Release

Today, United States Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, reintroduced H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) was an original cosponsor of the bipartisan legislation, which would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, help eliminate the gender pay gap, and guarantee that women can hold employers accountable by challenging pay discrimination.

"I'm proud to once again stand with my Democratic colleagues as we reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work," said Congressman Cleaver. "This legislation is an important step toward closing the gender pay gap, which remains stubbornly stagnant to the detriment of American families and our economy as a whole. In Missouri, women are only paid roughly 80 cents on the dollar for the invaluable work they do day in and day out--and for women of color, it's significantly worse. It's time for Congress to take concerted action to close that gap, and I believe the Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step in the right direction."

More than five decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women in the U.S. who work full-time are typically paid only 82 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, according to the National Women's Law Center. This gap in earnings translates to roughly $10,157 per year in median earnings. The gap is even wider for women of color--where African American women are only paid 63 cents and Latina women only 55 cents to every dollar earned by white men. Considering that women are the sole or co-breadwinner in over half of families with children, the gender wage gap also harmfully impacts millions of children.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would:

Require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons and not on gender alone;
Ban retaliation against workers who discuss their wages;
Limit how employers can use the salary history of prospective employees;
Create a negotiation and skills training program;
Remove obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to allow workers to participate in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination; and
Improve the Department of Labor's tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act

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