The same day Colorado women make below the national average in relation to men, a House Democrat filed a bill to revive the state’s Pay Equity Commission.
The combination is likely to revive a potent political issue for Democrats, who will use the measure to put additional political pressure on Republican lawmakers.
Senate Republicans , and Rep. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, filed her bill Friday with 18 other women in the House Democratic caucus as cosponsors.
“The Pay Equity Commission is an important place where the conversation between business leaders and employees and community leaders and advocates for pay equity can meet and talk about the issue,” Danielson said. “It’s really the only formal setting for this conversation in the state.”
The day she introduced her bill, Colorado women make 77.9 percent of what men receive in weekly wages, below the 82.1 percent national gender gap average.
“I believe that ending the commission, or killing the commission, would be an enormous mistake — a big step backwards for women,” she said.
Responding to criticisms of the commission, which she called “not perfect,” it would seek to make the panel more formal by allowing it to raise money and hire staff. It is now a volunteer committee.
Danielson downplayed the suggestion that the bill is a way for Democrats to score political points, given how the party has transformed the issue into an electoral talking point in recent cycles. It would be a shame if politics got in the way of this policy,” she said, saying it should be a “bipartisan priority.”
“To strengthen the middle class in Colorado, a piece of that is ensuring women get paid the same for the work that they do,” she said.
