House Speaker Thom Tillis, the Republican nominee for Senate in North Carolina, said the best way to close the gender pay gap is to enforce the current laws the prohibit inequality in the work place.
That answer from Tillis came during a debate between him and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), who Tillis is running against in the race for U.S. Senate.
Hagan started off the exchange by asking Tillis how he would propose to close the gap.
“Speaker Tillis, North Carolina women earn just 82 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts,” Hagan said. “In the General Assembly you killed an equal pay bill and you said you don’t support a proposed equal pay bill in Congress. Why don’t you support the equal bills to ensure women get equal pay for equal work?”
“Well Senator Hagan you probably know that there are laws on the books that —it’s against the law to do something that any employer does. He should pay the consequences,” Tillis said. “Men and women —my mother, who worked hard and helped us actually make ends meet, my wife, and my daughter and a number of other people —women, deserve the same pay as men.”
Tillis then reiterated his argument to enforce the current laws on pay fairness.
“Let’s enforce the laws that are on the books versus some of the campaign gimmicks that are going to put more regulations and make it more difficult,” Tillis continued. “Women in North Carolina are disproportionately out of work since President Obama’s come into office and Sen. Hagan supported his policies. Minorities are disproportionately out of work. Let’s focus on getting them back to work and getting a thriving environment —a thriving business environment that will actually increase salaries and make it better for women, 40 percnet of whom are head of households in this state.”
Hagan shot back that the first bill she co-sponsored when she joined the Senate was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
“We need to build on that law and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act which is the equal pay bill but Speaker Tillis, I don’t think you understand that the bottom line, when women get more money affects not just women but affects their entire families,” Hagan said. “Husbands want their women to get equal pay.”
The TPM Polltracker average gives Hagan a 4.2 point lead over Tillis.
