Warner & Kaine Reintroduce Paycheck Fairness Act To Close Gender Wage Gap

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, 10 years after the week President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Patty Murray to reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable. According to the National Women’s Law Center, today’s wage gap in Virginia would cost a woman on average $482,000 over a 40-year career, when compared to a man.

“More than half a century ago, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act to ensure that women in Virginia and across the country aren’t paid less than men for doing the same work. Unfortunately in 2019, the fight for equal pay isn’t over,” Warner said. “This bill will help drive wages up for women and combat discriminatory practices that have held women back from climbing the career and economic ladder.”

“This should be obvious: Women deserve equal pay. Yet women are still only paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the disparity is even worse for women of color. This is not just a ‘women’s issue’; it’s a family and economic issue. I’m proud to cosponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act because we must close the gender pay gap and end pay discrimination. I hope Congress will pass this commonsense bill to help families succeed,” Kaine said. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees. The Senate legislation has 45 cosponsors.

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