House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday touted closing the gender pay gap as an added benefit of their plans for the federal government to subsidize paid family leave, provide universal pre-school and make direct payments to parents.
She marked Equal Pay Day, which fell on Monday, by renewing calls to pass the two plans that were part of the defunct $1.75 trillion Build Better Bill Act. She said it would boost women in the workforce.
“Lowering the cost of childcare is one of the most important things that we can do to make sure that women can take the comfortable rightful place in the workforce without worrying about the safety and security of their children,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
She was joined by equal pay activists, Labor Department officials, and Reps. Jackie Speier of California and Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, who co-chair the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Mrs. Lawrence said it was time to pass the long-stalled Paycheck Fairness Act. The bill, which was first introduced in 1997, would broaden the definition of a workplace establishment, bar employers from inquiring about workers’ salary histories and enhance discrimination oversight by the Labor Department.
The bill is reintroduced annually. But it faces opposition from Republicans and fails to muster enough support to become law.
“The Paycheck Fairness Act is a necessity,” Mrs. Lawrence said. “I will talk about this every year, but hopefully next year — I keep hope alive — next year, we’ll be saying we finally got it right.”
The lawmakers also called for restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit, a part of recently expired COVID-19 relief that sent monthly checks of $250 or $300 per child to parents making up to $150,000 a year.
Other measures they said would close the pay gap included lowering health care costs, and implementing universal pre-K as ways that would help encourage women to re-enter and remain in the workforce.
President Biden is set to announce on Tuesday executive action intended to end the gender pay gap for federal contract workers.
Part of Mr. Biden’s plan is to encourage the government to consider banning federal contractors from seeking information about job applicants’ salary histories.
Several states have enacted similar laws banning employers from asking about employees’ past salaries.
A White House fact sheet estimates that overall women earn roughly 83 cents on the dollar, compared to their male counterparts in the public and private sectors.
Some conservative groups, however, used Equal Pay Day to highlight what they say are “myths” behind the statistic showing women earn less than men.
The Independent Women’s Forum, a right-leaning nonprofit focusing on economic policy effects on women, is hosting a virtual discussion on the pay gap issue. They said it would dispel “the narrative peddled by feminist activists on the left and mainstream media.”
The nonprofit blamed the reported gap on personal decisions, rather than structural barriers.
“The raw wage gap does not compare women and men in the same profession who work the same hours, in the same work conditions, with the same qualifications, experience and talent,” its website said. “Men and women of all races make many different choices based on what’s best for them as individuals and families.”
Ellie Cohanim, former State Department official under the Trump administration, Mandy Gunasekara, former chief of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Erin Hawley, attorney and wife of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, are members of the organization.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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