House Democratic Reps. Brittany Pettersen, at left, and Faith Winter, holding her daughter, Sienna, announced a package of bills that makes Colorado part of the national Equal Pay Can’t Wait campaign. (Photo by Joey Bunch/The Denver Post.)
As press conferences go, this one was rock solid: A group of House Democrats were joined by women’s groups and small children Thursday to drive home the point that the equal pay issue isn’t going away as long as wages for women lag. The children wore red T-shirts that gave their ages in the 2057, the year advocates say pay for women, at the current rate of gains, will catch up to what men earn.
Colorado women make about 80 cents on the dollar to men’s pay, various government and private studies have indicated, That’s why Colorado lawmakers joined counterparts in more than 20 other states to advocate for legislative gains this year. The campaign is called led by the liberal State Innovation Exchange. The Democrats said they would try to pass a package of equal-pay bills this session.
The would require state contractors to comply with equal-pay laws. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge and Janet Buckner of Aurora.
The bill, sponsored by Danielson and Rep. Joe Salazar of Thornton, would protect workers who share wage information. Reps. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood and Faith Winter of Westminster are sponsoring the Fair Pay from the Start Act, which would block employers from asking job applicants about their salary history.
“We are more likely to be paid less from the get-go,” Pettersen explained. “That’s why Rep. Winter and I are bringing a bill to ensure that employers do not ask salary history but only salary requirements. This will stop the perpetuation of injustice.”
Danielson said Colorado has one of the highest pay gaps between men and women in the country.
Rep. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge is sponsoring two equal pay bills this session, (Photo by Joey Bunch/The Denver Post
“As a proud fourth-generation Coloradan, this is not a statistic I’m proud of,” she said. “And we need to work to change that today.”
Democrats, however, had no Republican co-sponsors, and none of the GOP leaders attended the press noontime conference, though organizers conceded they didn’t specifically invite them. Last year, Republicans refused to allow Democrats to renew the state’s Equal Pay Commission, citing poor organization and a lack of progress after eight years. Republicans also see the push as more regulation on small businesses.
Democrats control the House, but Republicans control the Senate and could bottle up and kill any or all of the bills there. In fact, it’s likely they will.
“Today was just the first step down the long road,” Danielson said. “… It is by all means and certainly should be a very bipartisan effort, and I hope my colleagues from across the aisle will see eye to eye on this. A number of bills in other states have passed with strong bipartisan support, so, yes, it’s our hope that this comes out with very strong bipartisan support. But today you have the people who are leading the charge for equal pay for equal work and sponsoring the bills.”
Buckner said the equal rights struggles of others had allowed her to succeed and business and become a legislator.
“I now have the opportunity to fight for progress,” she said. “That’s why I’m here today and that’s why I am sponsoring the Equal Pay in State Contracts Act — to fight for women, women of color, and men of color to be treated with the fairness and respect that they deserve. I have three beautiful granddaughters and I want to be able to look them in the eye and tell them I fought for them and the women of Colorado to earn equal pay for equal work.”
Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat from Thornton, brought his daughter Lili to a press conference calling for equal pay for women Thursday. (Photo by Joey BunchThe Denver Post)
Winter carried her daughter, Sienna, to the lectern.
“Every single day I teach my daughter and my son to dream big and if they work hard they can do anything they want,” she said. “It breaks my heart that I’m preparing my daughter to enter a workforce that will not value the same hard work as my son’s simply because she’s a girl.”
Salazar was joined by his daughter Lili.
“I would have brought my daughter (Alexandra), who’s 19, but she’s out looking for a job,” he began.
“My daughters have roots here in Colorado that go back many, many generations — Spanish side, hundreds of years; indigenous side thousands of years,” he said. “And despite the longevity of our family being here in the state of Colorado, my daughters will earn 53 cents on the dollar as compared to their white, male counterparts.”
Neha Mahajan, state director of 9to5 Colorado, said it was unacceptable for women of color to trail so far behind in 2016.
“We expect our legislators to stand with women and vote for these bills that will help us better support our families and build our local economy,” she said.
