Davis: It’s Time for Pay Equity for Women

State Rep. Tina Davis, D-Bucks,  said Friday she will support efforts to fast-track pay equity legislation in the state House of Representatives.

Among the number of bills Davis has in the state house she said fixing the pay gap would help families single mothers are raising.

“Thousands of children in Bucks County are wholly dependent on mothers’ income yet they make an average of 63 cents for every $1 a man makes,” Davis said.

“Fixing the pay gap that exists across the commonwealth is crucial to bolstering families and mending our economy,” Davis said.  “Families suffer when we allow myths and prejudices to justify paying women less for the same work.”

Davis said she will support an effort to fast-track House Bill 1890, which would update the conditions where employers could pay different wages because of factors other than sex.

The bill also would strengthen anti-retaliation protections for workers attempting to file pay-equity lawsuits and those who share information about their pay.

“The legislation has been bottled up in committee for three months,” Davis said. “I will be supporting a discharge resolution so the bill can go straight to the House floor for consideration.”

Davis said she also spoke this week in favor of Republican legislation that would analyze state laws that are supposed to protect women against discrimination on wages and salaries.

“The pay gap harms families starting with current paychecks and lasting through retirement,” Davis said. “Ensuring paycheck fairness means less dependence on government programs.”

“Many factors contribute to the pay gap but discrimination is a major cause,” Davis said. “The evidence is overwhelming,” she said, noting that:

• Women earn less than men in every state and region of the country;
• The pay gap exists for women with advanced degrees and high-paying jobs as well as in part-time and entry-level positions; and
• The pay gap exists even when taking college majors and job preferences into account.

Davis said  several bills are being advanced by the Women’s Health Caucus in the General Assembly which could receive consideration when the legislature returns to session April 28.

The bipartisan package includes Davis’ “revenge porn” legislation, H.B. 1901, which would make it a crime to post online sexually explicit photos or videos without the person’s consent.

“My House Bill 1901 and a similar Republican bill are awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee,” Davis said. “I’m hearing that action on one of them could be imminent.”

Sources indicate State Rep. Thomas Murt  (R- Mont / Phila.) will be offering a bill similar to Davis’  “revenge porn” measure.

Davis said other bills she is supporting that deserve immediate attention include:

• H.B. 1984, which would prohibit employers from discriminating based on a job applicant’s marital or parental status;
• H.B. 1892, which would require reasonable workplace accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions; and
• H.B. 1900, which would allow more women between ages of 30 and 65 to qualify for breast and cervical cancer screenings through the state’s Healthy Woman Program.

Davis’  Scrap Metal Bill also awaits a vote from the House.

Earlier this week, Democratic Congressional Candidate in Pennsylvania’s 8th District  Kevin Strouse called on Congress to take steps at the federal level for woman to have pay equity in the labor market.

“It is fundamentally wrong that in this day and age pay discrimination is even an issue, but given Congressman Fitzpatrick’s penchant for turning his back on the middle class, it shouldn’t come as a shock that he and House Republicans are standing in the way of putting more money in the pockets of women’s families.”

Strouse wants to see House Republicans along with Fitzpatrick support the The Paycheck Fairness Act  which was introduced in the Senate in 2013.