Rep. Jessie Danielson.
D-Wheat Ridge
Friday is the seventh anniversary of President Obama signing , so Thursday Colorado Democrats will renew efforts on equal pay by unveiling two bills on the issue.
“The bills we’re going to talk about tomorrow are simple, common-sense approaches to make sure men and women earn the same pay for the same work,” Rep. Jessie Danielson, a Democrat from Wheat Ridge who has been a strong advocate on the issue, said Wednesday.
A public announcement with speeches and stuff is Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in the West Foyer on the second floor of the state Capitol.
Neither of the bills involve Colorado’s Equal Pay Commission, which was not renewed last year that the commission had had a hard time scheduling meetings and produced little or no substantive work in its previous eight years.
A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last year of what men receive in weekly wages, below the 82.1 percent national gender gap average. The gap for minorities is even greater, proponents argue.
Danielson will be joined Thursday by Democratic Reps. Janet Buckner of Aurora, Faith Winter of Westminster, Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood and Joe Salazar of Thornton.
Democrats are expected to make eqaul pay, family leave and reproductive rights issues central to their election-year campaigns.
Colorado is one of the states where legislators are participating in the national Equal Pay Can t Wait campaign coordinated by the liberal .
The first bill Democrats filed in the House this session addressed to an equal pay standard. The bill was introduced by Danielson and Buckner and co-sponsored by every other House Democrat.
