Senator’s legislation fights pay inequality for women, helps close the wage gap
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema today introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense plan that guarantees equal pay for equal work.
“It’s simple; equal work deserves equal pay. Our commonsense legislation fights pay inequality and helps all Arizona families get ahead,” said Sinema.
Nationally, women typically make only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. In Arizona, women working full-time are paid 84 cents for every dollar men are paid. The wage gap varies by race and is wider for women of color. For every dollar paid to white men, Latina women are paid 53 cents, and Native American women are paid 58 cents. Pay inequality not only affects women—it affects children, families, and our whole economy.
The Paycheck Fairness Act takes concrete action to address this inequality. This legislation requires employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons, bans retaliation against workers who discuss their wages, facilitates participation in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination, improves the Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act, and provides assistance to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices.
Sinema previously championed the Paycheck Fairness Act as an original cosponsor in the U.S. House.