A trio of Democratic senators are pushing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bring up legislation aimed at closing the gender pay gap.
Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) sent a letter Friday to McConnell urging him to schedule a “long overdue” vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act “as soon as possible.”
{mosads}”The wage gap is not just a women’s issue—it also impacts families who depend on working women to make ends meet,” the senators wrote. “Unequal pay hampers a woman’s ability to buy groceries, to pay the rent, to find affordable quality child care, and to save for her kids’ education.”
The letter comes after senators unanimously passed a resolution last month demanding the United States Soccer Federation eliminate disparate pay for the men’s and women’s teams.
The three female senators wrote in the letter Friday that pay gap in soccer is “emblematic” of the broader financial divide between what men and women are paid.
Passing the legislation, they argue, would underscore “that whether it’s on a soccer field or in a board room, a woman’s work and contributions are just as important as a man’s.”
Democrats are focusing increasingly on equal pay heading into the November election as they battle Donald Trump. Seventy percent of women have an unfavorable opinion of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, according to a Gallup poll from earlier this year.
Democrats could face an uphill battle to getting it through the Senate. The legislation has 44 cosponsors — all Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), who is running for president as a Democrat.
The legislation would prohibit retaliation against asking about or discussing an employee’s wage, would block employers from making employees sign paperwork saying they won’t talk about how much they are paid and would strengthen penalties for gender-pay discrimination.