Senator Pat Jehlen sponsored the bill that would help close the wage gap between male and female workers in the Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Senate passed legislation today that would help close the wage gap between male and female workers in the Commonwealth. The bill was sponsored by Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville) and Representative Jay Livingstone (D-Boston).

Massachusetts passed the nation’s first equal pay act just after World War II, and continued to steadily close the gender wage gap in the many years that followed. In recent years that progress has slowed to a crawl, barely moving in the last fifteen years.

“I am glad to see the Senate take this important step to remove barriers, often inadvertent, that contribute to the wage gap,” said Senator Jehlen. “If we don’t take action, my granddaughters’ granddaughters will be in the first generation of women entering a work force free of a gender wage gap. Waiting that long to close the gap is unacceptable.”

This legislation aims to strengthen the original equal pay law and close the wage gap by clarifying how to compare jobs to prevent wage discrimination on the basis of gender, establishing pay transparency, and requiring fairness in hiring practices.

“A unanimous vote in the Senate and an endorsement from a large base of advocates and business groups sends the message loud and clear,” said Representative Livingstone, who represents parts of Boston and Cambridge, “the Commonwealth is ready to lead the way on Equal Pay and this innovative and practical piece of legislation will bring our State even closer to closing the wage gap.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a woman working full time in Massachusetts earns 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man in Massachusetts. A report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research projects that the gender wage gap in Massachusetts will not close on its own until 2058.

The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act has wide support from a majority of House members, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Attorney General Maura Healey, Treasurer Deb Goldberg, Auditor Suzanne Bump, as well as the Massachusetts Equal Pay Coalition and its more than 40 members.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

~Office of Senator Patricia Jehlen